The Second Coming of Christ

1 lecture, Stuttgart, March 6, 1910 (CW 118)

"The being whom we call Christ once walked the earth in flesh and blood at the beginning of our era. He will never again return in a physical body, for that was a unique event and will not be repeated. But He will come again in an etheric form in the period I have mentioned. People will learn to perceive Christ by virtue of growing towards him through this etheric perception."

Many contemporaries of Jesus Christ were unaware of his incarnation on Earth at the beginning of the modern era. Moreover, today, says Rudolf Steiner, many remain ignorant of the most important event of our time: the appearance of Christ in the etheric, life realm of the Earth. Fundamentalists and millennial groups are awaiting the second physical incarnation, whereas atheists and materialists deny spirit altogether. Nevertheless, an incisive transformation is occurring in the human soul that will lead to an emerging clairvoyance. Just as Paul perceived Christ at Damascus, it is appropriate that every human being should experience him today.