The soul, the I and the spirit
Because the soul bears all possibilities within her, she cannot find the right way to the centre in herself. She is the ‘all gifted’, but she also is the scene upon which the struggle for true humanity takes place. All thinkable powers fight for her, to get her in full power. Everything we have to […]
The soul
Words have many different meanings and connotations. So let me try to give the meaning of the word ‘soul’ as I use it. In life on earth we have a clear consciousness of the being of our body – as long as we are not asleep. Even if I never have philosophical reflections, I know […]
The work of the Angels in our Soul
This time I quote Rudolf Steiner, from a lecture in GA 182. In this lecture the threefold ideal of the human being is given, and with the clairvoyant thinking it is seen where this ideal has its origin. I have made some small textual adjustments to assist contemporary readers. ‘The Angels form pictures in our […]
Nietzsche and evil
For Nietzsche evil is everything that diminishes human power. This diminution comes from thinking and acting out of forces foreign to us instead of out of our own instincts. Good is all that strengthens our wellbeing. For Nietzsche this vision brought him to the idea of the ‘superman’ who, if not understood in a differentiated […]
The idea of evil in the work of Solovyov and Tolstoi
In the reflections about evil I quoted the several authors and Rudolf Steiner. Next week I will finish these reflections with quotes from the work of Nietzsche. Then I will come back to the theme of the angels, who are working in our souls, weaving moral intuitions. Solovyov according to Rudolf Steiner ‘Solovyov is actually […]
Luther, seen from a spiritual point of view
Rudolf Steiner: ‘But still: nobody can understand Luther in a right way, who doesn’t know that the kind of conscious understanding of what was in his time the devil – we call them Lucifer and Ahriman now – were for Luther true spiritual events, not only in this particular place, the Wartburg, but always when […]
Evil according to Luther
From the consolation book of Martin Luther §5. From evil on the left side. Here belong the multiple griefs and disasters that the great legion of evil people can bring to us, or have to experience themselves. How much evil and disadvantage could they have done to our bodies, our honour and good name, from […]
Thomas Aquinas – About evil
Thomas Aquinas, About evil, Summa theologiae, Question 49, the cause of evil, Article 3. Whether there be one supreme evil which is the cause of every evil? Objection 1. It would seem that there is one supreme evil which is the cause of every evil. For contrary effects have contrary causes. But contrariety is found […]
Good and evil in Manichaeism
In this psalm from the Manichaean Psalm-book we can find a concentrated view on Manichaeism. ‘The Manichaean texts come from a wide number of sources. Originally many texts in Latin and Greek certainly existed, but during the persecution of the movement in the West most of these were lost (a major exception is the Greek Cologne […]
Sin as described by St. Paul in his Letter to the Romans
In this series of thoughts about evil, now comes this text before Easter. It is the first vision of evil from a Christian point of view. St. Paul associates sin with Adam and with the law. Victory over sin is only possible for those who are in Christ, in the risen Christ. Romans 5, 12 […]