Christianity as Mystical Fact and the Mysteries of Antiquity

“As simultaneously mysticism and fact, Christianity is a breakthrough in the historical development of humanity, for which the mysteries, with the results that they brought about, form a prior evolutionary stage.” ―Rudolf SteinerDuring the fall and winter of 1901–02, Steiner gave a series of lectures called “Christianity as Mystical Fact” to members of the Theosophical Society. The lectures were rewritten and issued as a book later that year. They mark a watershed in the development of Western esotericism. Steiner wrote of the idea behind his book:“The titleChristianity as Mystical Factwas one I gave to this work eight years ago, when I gathered together the content of lectures given in 1902. It was meant to indicate the special approach adopted in the book. Its theme is not just the mystical side of Christianity in a historical presentation. It was meant to show, from the standpoint of a mystical awareness, how Christianity came into being.