Moral teaching and moral preaching cannot establish morality. It is only by delving into the hidden secrets of life that we can advance not just to moral doctrines but to the moral sources of life, true moral impulses. At different times, humanity has manifested moral life in different ways. To understand these differences, the evolution of consciousness must also be taken into account. Originally morality was a part of human nature, for in their essence human beings are good. But through evolution, there have come errors, deviations, times of falling away. In this small, much-loved cycle of three lectures Rudolf Steiner indicates the sources for the recovery of a living morality for our time. Rudolf Steiner shows the transformation of the virtues through the evolution of consciousness and, above all, through the incarnation of the Christ in the Mystery of Golgotha. Since then, morality works to build up Christ's being. Synopses: Why morality needs to be studied. Preaching morality v. founding morality: examples of ancient India (devotion to wisdom) and ancient Europe (courage). Leprosy in the Middle Ages. The biography of Francis of Assisi; the transformation of courage into love. The reality of moral forces. The caste system; differentiation as to a law of evolution. The betrayal of the Atlantean Mysteries; the consequences for the European population. Racial evolution v. soul evolution. The demons of leprosy overcome by the Christ impulse in Francis of Assisi. Francis's prior incarnation; the mysteries at Colchis and the Buddha. Francis's faith in the original goodness of humanity. Plato's four virtues. The nature of evil and freedom; the teaching of the mean. Interest as a precondition for understanding and moral conduct. Spiritual Science, as divine wisdom, stimulates interest. During the third post-Atlantean cultural epoch, interest was regulated by the instinctive virtue of "wisdom"; today, interest must be regulated by conscious truthfulness. The lack of truthfulness in modern times; theosophy as an educator of truthfulness. Truthfulness as the virtue of the sentient soul. Courage as the instinctive virtue of the mind soul in the fourth epoch; today, in the fifth epoch, it must become love, based on understanding. This is promoted by a theosophical comprehension of the Christ. Temperance as the virtue of the consciousness soul is still instinctive in the fifth epoch; it will be replaced by "life wisdom" in the sixth epoch. The effect of spiritual-scientific wisdom on the body. The virtue of "justice." Knowledge of the suprasensory world through wonder, astonishment, faith. The evolution of conscience. The Christ impulse is naked; it must be clothed by impulses of wonder, love, conscience. Founding v. preaching morality: the reality of the Christ impulse v. abstract ideals of brotherhood. How goodness builds and evil destroys. This volume is a partial translation of Theosophische Moral (CW 155).

Laurence Oliphant is one of the great unknown personalities of the nineteenth century, and indeed of recent cultural history at large. He was born at Cape Town in 1829 and died near London in 1888. He left behind some twenty books, including novels, travel accounts, and mystical spiritual writings. He was diplomat, traveler, adventurer, writer, and mystic. At the beginning of the 1860s, the period of Oliphant's great spiritual transition began when he met the Swedenborgian Thomas Lake Harris. It was Oliphant's last works, Sympneumata and Scientific Religion, that prompted Rudolf Steiner to pursue karmic research on Oliphant. As a result, Steiner revealed the karmic relationship between the lives of Oliphant and the Roman poet Ovid. In an August 24, 1924, lecture in London, Steiner commented that Oliphant's individuality is significant not only because of the previous Ovid incarnation, but also because of its activity in the interval between the two incarnations. Looked at in the light of spiritual research on the subject, Oliphant's life assumes dimensions of world-historical interest. When a Stone Begins to Roll contains extensive selections from Oliphants autobiographical book, Episodes in a Life of Adventure; or, Moss from a Rolling Stone (1887). In addition to the insightful commentary of T.H. Meyer, the book also offers a generous sampling of Oliphant's complex and compelling work, as well as hitherto unpublished material and the satire "The Sisters of Tibet."

10 Lectures in Copenhagen and Norrköping, May 23-30, 1912, July 12-16, 1914 (CW 155) "Spiritual science does not want to replace Christianity; rather, it aims to be the instrument through which the meaning of Christianity can be grasped. And one thing that will become particularly clear through spiritual science is that the being whom we call Christ must be recognized as the center of life on earth, and that what we call the Christian faith is the ultimate religion, the eternal religion for the future of the earth." -- Rudolf Steiner (July 13, 1914) This collection of lectures from 1912 and 1914 offers a deepened understanding of the being of Christ, the divine Logos, in his connection with individual human souls. From religious figures such as John the Baptist and Saint Francis to the twentieth-century poet Christian Morgenstern, these lectures reveal how Christ works with and through all who seek him. The Pauline statement, "Not I, but Christ in me," becomes an inner guide by which each human soul can find a way to intimate union with the Christ being. It is he who has the power to make our ideals and goals in life--if they are worthy--into true seeds of future reality. The time of faith has come and gone. Christ needs our conscious striving, our effort to understand, within the heart's deep core, his ongoing presence and activity in the further evolution of our spiritual Earth and in our journey toward humanness. These lectures are a comfort and a signpost for the soul to walk the inner path of communion with Christ for the healing and redemption of the earth. We may be able, in the end, to redeem the karma accrued by our own individual souls, but for our spiritual work to be fruitful for all humanity it must be brought into connection with Christ. "What we take into ourselves in such a way that it is done from the perspective of 'Not I'-- this is what Christ makes into a common possession for all humanity" (July 14, 1914). "To know Christ means to undergo the school of selflessness.... Under the influence of materialism, the selflessness of humanity was lost in a way, as will be understood in future ages of humanity. However, through absorption in the Mystery of Golgotha, the penetration of the knowledge of the Mystery of Golgotha with our whole feeling and soul being, we can once again acquire a culture of selflessness. We can come to understand that what Christ did for the development of the Earth is contained in the fundamental impulse of selflessness, and that what he can become for the conscious development of the human soul is the school of selflessness!" -- Rudolf Steiner (June 1, 1914) To read these lectures is to strike out on the heart's path of fellowship with the living Christ. This book is a translation from German of Christus und die Menschliche Seele. Über den Sinn des Lebens - Theosophische Moral - Anthroposophie und Christentum (GA 155, 3rd ed.), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach, Switzerland, 1994. Cover image: Salvator Mundi (1499-1510) by Leonardo da Vinci.

Rudolf Steiner's teachings of Christ are unique. Christ, he says, is an objective universal force, existing independently of Christian churches and confessions, and working for the whole of humanity. The impulse that Christ brought to earth acts for the advancement of all people, irrespective of religion, creed or race. Among the myriad other themes that emerge here are the introduction of the 'I' (or self) in human development and its connection to Christ and the meaning of the Ten.

10 Lectures in Copenhagen and Norrköping, May 23-30, 1912, July 12-16, 1914 (CW 155) "Spiritual science does not want to replace Christianity; rather, it aims to be the instrument through which the meaning of Christianity can be grasped. And one thing that will become particularly clear through spiritual science is that the being whom we call Christ must be recognized as the center of life on earth, and that what we call the Christian faith is the ultimate religion, the eternal religion for the future of the earth." -- Rudolf Steiner (July 13, 1914) This collection of lectures from 1912 and 1914 offers a deepened understanding of the being of Christ, the divine Logos, in his connection with individual human souls. From religious figures such as John the Baptist and Saint Francis to the twentieth-century poet Christian Morgenstern, these lectures reveal how Christ works with and through all who seek him. The Pauline statement, "Not I, but Christ in me," becomes an inner guide by which each human soul can find a way to intimate union with the Christ being. It is he who has the power to make our ideals and goals in life--if they are worthy--into true seeds of future reality. The time of faith has come and gone. Christ needs our conscious striving, our effort to understand, within the heart's deep core, his ongoing presence and activity in the further evolution of our spiritual Earth and in our journey toward humanness. These lectures are a comfort and a signpost for the soul to walk the inner path of communion with Christ for the healing and redemption of the earth. We may be able, in the end, to redeem the karma accrued by our own individual souls, but for our spiritual work to be fruitful for all humanity it must be brought into connection with Christ. "What we take into ourselves in such a way that it is done from the perspective of 'Not I'-- this is what Christ makes into a common possession for all humanity" (July 14, 1914). "To know Christ means to undergo the school of selflessness.... Under the influence of materialism, the selflessness of humanity was lost in a way, as will be understood in future ages of humanity. However, through absorption in the Mystery of Golgotha, the penetration of the knowledge of the Mystery of Golgotha with our whole feeling and soul being, we can once again acquire a culture of selflessness. We can come to understand that what Christ did for the development of the Earth is contained in the fundamental impulse of selflessness, and that what he can become for the conscious development of the human soul is the school of selflessness!" -- Rudolf Steiner (June 1, 1914) To read these lectures is to strike out on the heart's path of fellowship with the living Christ. This book is a translation from German of Christus und die Menschliche Seele. Über den Sinn des Lebens - Theosophische Moral - Anthroposophie und Christentum (GA 155, 3rd ed.), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach, Switzerland, 1994. Cover image Salvator Mundi (1499-1510) by Leonardo da Vinci (oil paint on walnut panel, 25.8 x 19.2 in.), Louvre Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The acclaimed social psychologist challenges conventional thinking about morality, politics, and religion in a way that speaks to conservatives and liberals alike—a “landmark contribution to humanity’s understanding of itself” (The New York Times Book Review). Drawing on his twenty-five years of groundbreaking research on moral psychology, Jonathan Haidt shows how moral judgments arise not from reason but from gut feelings. He shows why liberals, conservatives, and libertarians have such different intuitions about right and wrong, and he shows why each side is actually right about many of its central concerns. In this subtle yet accessible book, Haidt gives you the key to understanding the miracle of human cooperation, as well as the curse of our eternal divisions and conflicts. If you’re ready to trade in anger for understanding, read The Righteous Mind.