Who or what is God, according to Rudolf Steiner? Students at Waldorf schools are often directed to recite prayers, written by Steiner, that address “God,” “God’s spirit,” and/or the “Creator Spirit.” [1] To whom are these prayers directed?

Steiner spoke of the Godhead, which may be taken as the creative force behind the universe. Most people in the Western world, hearing of the Godhead, think of the monotheistic God recognized in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. But Steiner described a universe populated by a vast number of gods. He said that polytheism is correct; monotheism is only an ideal vision:  

“Monotheism or monism can only represent an ultimate ideal; it could never lead to a real understanding of the world, to a comprehensive, complete view of the world.” [2]

In Steiner's view, there is no One and Only God, at least not yet. The reality encompassed by the concept of monotheism is still being evolved: It is a condition the universe may reach eventually, not a condition that exists now, or so Steiner taught.

To repeat, then: To whom are Steiner's prayers directed?

I.

The Godhead

Here is some of what Steiner said about the Godhead. He identified the Godhead as divine will. He characterized the Godhead as a nebulous force that activates good gods, and good humans, and everything else aside, perhaps, from evil gods and beings that lack real spirit. The Godhead is the “creator spirit” or the “kingdom” into which the good may enter. In this sense, it is blessedness.

“[A] Christian sees a mirror image of the Godhead, of divine will, in every single thing in the world. The universe contains the sacrificed Godhead, and this reflected image of the Godhead was called in esoteric Christianity ‘the kingdom’. What the kingdom meant to them was the divine will raying back to them multiplied a million times. The kingdom was the creative power of Atma, the living force of Buddhi in us, the creative force working in the outside world.” [3] (In Anthroposophy, true Christianity is Anthroposophy itself.)

Atma, as described by Steiner, is the highest evolutionary stage of human consciousness. Buddhi is a second, lower stage, consisting of the transformed etheric body — one of the three nonphysical bodies that humans possess, according to Steiner. (Manas, not mentioned in this quotation, is the third, still lower stage, consisting of the transformed astral body — another of our three nonphysical bodies). [4] 

Steiner's vision was Christian, in a sense. It was also Hindu, in a sense (Atma, Buddhi...). Steiner placed great emphasis on Christ, teaching that Christ is a key embodiment of divine will. On the other hand, he also said that Christ is the Sun God, one of the vast panoply of gods inhabiting our polytheistic universe. [See "Sun God".] Thus, Christ — like all other beneficent beings — is a fulfillment of the Godhead. Thus, we may find the Godhead in Christ. 

“True existence is the incarnation of the Godhead; the world process is the Passion of the incarnated Godhead and at the same time the way of redemption for Him who was crucified in the flesh....” [5]

The Godhead is a spirit that incarnates in true existence (false existence incarnates evil or it has no spiritual component at all). The Godhead, incarnated in Christ and enduring Christ's Passion (the Crucifixion), sacrificed itself for our sake. We ourselves can follow the world process that, if properly unfolded, will lead to our Christ-informed spiritual evolution — toward our own divinity, which may be considered the ultimate fulfillment of the Godhead.

The Godhead is beyond our current comprehension and, in a manner of speaking, the Godhead is outside our universe. The Godhead may be deemed the mysterious trinity standing above all ranks of gods — it is the transcendent union of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, or Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu. In this sense, the Godhead is a union of three separate, very high gods. [See "Trinity".] All that exists — including the gods — arises from the Godhead and aspires to realize the Godhead. But, Steiner said, we cannot expect to understand the ultimate activities or purposes of divine will, at least not yet. [See "Origins".] The Godhead lies beyond. Steiner taught that for our pragmatic purposes, trying to understand how to live and what to think, we should direct our gaze at the gods who are more directly involved in the life of our solar system, our planet, and ourselves.

II.

God the Father

The spirit realm, Steiner said, has few defining lines or distinctions. Entities and essences interweave and overlap. Thus, Christ is a god standing below the Godhead; yet Christ is also, in a sense, a member of the Godhead. The same may be said of God the Father. The Father, according to Steiner, is that fulfillment of divinity toward which we are evolving. We will actually become the Father — not as companions of the Father, but literally as Himself. 

“[W]e shall have gradually achieved the transformation of our own being into what is called in Christianity ‘the Father.’” [6]

According to Steiner, the God of monotheism does not yet exist — He is coming into existence, within ourselves. When Steiner's followers pray to God the Father — and when Waldorf students are led in such prayers — the god being addressed is not the Godhead, precisely, nor the One True God of monotheism, but the creative aspect of divinity embodied in our spheres of spiritual activity, a godliness that we envision as the Father. Anthroposophical forms of the Lord's Prayer address this power. Steiner used multiple versions of the Lord's Prayer, usually framed to direct focus to the god or gods that enact divine will for our immediate benefit. So, for example, one form of the Lord's Prayer offered by Steiner addresses not “Our Father which art in heaven” but, instead, it addresses the “All-Father of Humanity”: 

"We sense You above in the heavenly heights,

All-Father of Humanity.

Consecrated be Your Name.” [7]  

The All-Father is, in a sense, Odin, the highest god depicted in Norse myths, the father of the gods who was often referred to as All Father. Indeed, the wide pantheon of gods found in Norse mythology is more akin to Steiner's vision than is the single God of the Bible. [See "The Gods".] But in Steiner's teachings, Odin is not the Godhead; Odin is not the sole source of divine creativity. Rather, all the good gods participate in creation, and thus all of the good gods are our fathers, as it were. So another version of the Lord's Prayer used by Steiner — the version that Steiner said underlies the others — addresses not "our Father" but "ye fathers":

"...humanity

Has separated itself

From Your Kingdom

And forgot your names

Ye Fathers in the heavens." [8] 

We have many spiritual fathers because there are many gods who have assisted us in our evolution, Steiner taught. Creation and evolution, in the broadest sense, are the work of "spirit." We ourselves are spiritual beings when we acknowledge our bonds to spirit: 

“We are spiritual beings only when we recognize spirit as creator — the agent that works on and shapes the material world. It is not the worship of some abstract spirit in the clouds....” [9] 

The gods are all around us and even within us. If the Godhead is distant, the gods are present. 

When we address a single Father, Steiner said, we must understand that we are not praying to Jehovah, the god of the Jews. According to Steiner, Jehovah (or Jahve) is only one of several collegial gods, the Elohim. Like many other gods, Jehovah has played a helpful role in our evolution, but we must see him in his context: 

“[The] further evolution of man has only been possible because one of the Elohim, Jahve, accompanied the separation of the Moon [from the Earth] — while the other six spirits remained in the Sun — and because Jahve cooperated with His six colleagues....” [10]

Actually, Steiner said, the god we address as Father is the presiding spirit of Saturn. 

"The highest Ruler of Saturn...appears to us as the Father God, and the highest Ruler of Sun, the Sun-God, as the Christ. Similarly the Ruler of the Moon stage of Earth [see 'Old Moon, Etc.'] appears to us as the Holy Spirit....” [11] 

III.

God the Son

In Christian belief, Christ is one of the three persons of God. Steiner’s conception overlaps this, but it is also markedly different. Christ is, in a way, the Son; but more particularly, according to Steiner, Christ is the Sun God — a god who has dwelled on, and ruled over, the Sun. Steiner said the Sun God has involved Himself many times in human evolution [see "Christ Events"], and His coming to Earth was foreseen long ago, even while we lived on Atlantis: 

“The Sun oracle [a being/place having the power of prophecy] of ancient Atlantis had already prophesied the coming of Christ, of the Sun-God.” [12]

Steiner taught that the Sun God incarnated in the body of Jesus, a man, for a period of three years. At the end of that time, following the Crucifixion, Christ merged with the Earth. Early Christians understood Christ's true nature, more or less, Steiner said, but later Christians forgot. When humanity lost its ancient powers of clairvoyance, the reality of Christ's association with the Sun faded from our awareness: 

“With greater or less understanding, Christ was thus pictured by the Christians of the first centuries as the mighty ‘Sun God’. [paragraph break] But throughout Christendom at this time the faculty of instinctive clairvoyance once possessed by men was fading away. Then they could no longer see in the sun the great spiritual kingdom at whose centre the Christ once had his abode.” [13]

Christ came to Earth and quit the Sun. 

“Christ died to the Sun. He died cosmically, from the Sun to the earth. He came down to the earth. From the moment of Golgotha [the Crucifixion on Calvary] onwards his Life-Spirit was to be seen around the earth.” [14] 

The life-spirit is Buddhi. Christ "died to the Sun," meaning that he withdrew his spirit from the Sun. He, or his human embodiment, Jesus, later died on the Earth, and Christ the spirit (Christ's Buddhi) then merged with the Earth.

Dying to the Sun and later merging with the Earth is not quite the same thing as dying to redeem our sins. According to Steiner, Christ is our savior in a different sense than is usually understood. Christ is the role model humans should follow as we strive to evolve: 

"Christ shows himself to him as the great human Prototype and Example, united with the Earth's true evolution." [15] 

Steiner said Christ became the inverse of the entire universe, a microcosmic or "inverse macrocosmic" entity when he incarnated in human form. He brought All — the Godhead, as it were — into physical existence. 

“The ‘being’ of Christ should be thought of as the inverse macrocosmic human being, but [also] identical with the second aspect of the Divinity, the Logos.” [16] 

According to Steiner, we ourselves are microcosmic entities, small reflections of the entire universe, and we find our true identities when we properly follow Christ, who is the living Word of God, Logos. [See "All".]

Although Christ took up a distinguishing burden when he chose to incarnate on Earth, he was not the only god to descend to our world in one form or another, according to Steiner. [See "Avatars".] Good gods have descended to assist us, but evil gods or demons have also incarnated here. So, during the time when Christ walked the Earth in the form of Jesus, the demon Ahriman was also abroad, acting almost as a colleague of Christ's. 

“[I]t was also possible for Ahriman to be active side by side with the Christ during the three years in which Christ was active in the body of Jesus of Nazareth." [17] 

Steiner generally taught that demons such as Ahriman have evil intentions, but their effects can be converted to blessings through the intervention of beneficent deities. Thus, Ahriman may have walked "side by side" with Christ as long as Christ held Ahriman's malevolence in check.

Christ has played a crucial role in human evolution, Steiner indicated; but Christ's mission here is not unparalleled. Other gods or high spirits have gone to other planets where they played much the same role that Christ has played on Earth. Thus, for instance, Steiner pointed to Buddha:

“Buddha became a Redeemer and Saviour for Mars as Christ Jesus had become for the Earth." [18] 

IV.

The Holy Spirit

Let’s consider the third person of the Christian triune God. The most obscure of the three persons, the Holy Spirit is, in a sense, what Christ bequeathed humanity. Or so Steiner indicated.

“[T]he living spirit speaks to us again. [paragraph break] It is no formula devised by human cleverness, the Trinity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It is a reality deeply bound up with the whole evolution of the cosmos; and it becomes for us a living, not dead, knowledge when we bring to life within ourselves the Christ Who, as the Risen One, is the bringer of the Holy Spirit.” [19]

Three of Steiner’s devotees may help us understand. 

◊ In one sense, the Holy Spirit is a light beckoning us onward in our evolution: A “light appears from the future ... It is this, so to speak, beckoning light that Steiner speaks of as the Holy Spirit....” — Anthroposophical leader Stewart C. Easton. [20] 

◊ And, the “individual comprehension of the Christ Impulse is described by Steiner as the gift of the Holy Spirit, the direct reception of which is celebrated at Whitsun.” — Steiner translator Malcolm Ian Gardner. [21] The Christ-Impulse is the spiritual impetus and ability activated in us by Christ. The Holy Spirit gives us this impulse as a gift. Whitsun or Whitsuntide (or Pentecost) is a celebration of this gift. 

◊ At Waldorf schools, Whitsun is "the festival of awakening, or free individuality, of baptism ... Whitsun/Pentecost is both moveable and fixed [in the calendar], in that it follows fifty days after Easter; that is to say, the experience of death and resurrection leads in due course to the experience of understanding oneself as a spiritual being." — Waldorf teacher Karen Mortenson. [22]

Steiner taught that the Holy Spirit represents the "universal I" — the universal spiritual ego, the cosmic spark of divine selfhood and illumination. During the process of initiation, the human astral body is purified, becoming the perfect receptive human soul with its inborn wisdom: the "Virgin Sophia": 

“Through all that is received during catharsis, the student cleanses and purifies the astral body so that it becomes transformed into the Virgin Sophia. Moreover, when the Virgin Sophia encounters the cosmic, or universal 'I' which leads to illumination, the student is surrounded by spiritual light ... If you prefer, one may say 'overshadowed by the 'Holy Spirit,' or cosmic, universal 'I.'" [23]

On other occasions, Steiner indicated that the Holy Spirit is itself the receptive feminine aspect of spirituality. 

"One could also say that the ‘Holy Spirit’ is the (feminine) ‘Mother’ principle of the (male) ‘Son’ principle, Christ. We owe the development of the ‘Christ in us’ to the ‘Holy Spirit’ (the female creator of Christ)." [24] 

The procreative power of the "mother" finds expression in our souls. 

“Here we have one of the central conceptions of Mystery-teaching, which acknowledges the human soul as the mother of god.” [25] 

In a sense, as we attain divinity and become "what is called in Christianity ‘the Father'," we will have created God. And we will have done it thanks in large measure to the "mother" of God: Sophia/Artemis/Eve/Mary, who may be thought of as the Holy Spirit. [See "Goddess".]

If all of this is somewhat cloudy, Steiner sometimes gave a more concrete account. As we saw previously, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three separate gods, Steiner said, and the Holy Ghost is "the Ruler of the Moon stage of Earth.” In other words, the deity we apprehend as the Holy Ghost is the particular god who presided during the Old Moon period of evolution — he was the leader of the Angels before the rebellion of Lucifer and his minions. 

◊ “Rudolf Steiner said...that the Holy Spirit...was the highest Regent of Old Moon.” [26] 

◊ "'The Holy Spirit, the ruler of Ancient Moon with its wisdom, had been displaced at the Fall by Lucifer.'" [27] 

◊ "[D]uring [Old] Moon, those beings that were...the good spirits...[are] those for which the Christian designation is angel ... We have designated the outstanding Leader of these spirits as the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost." [28]

V.

God(s)

Here are some additional Steiner statements which may or may not tend toward illumination. Trying to make all Anthroposophical statements consistent with one another is, at a minimum, taxing. Sometimes it is better to just let the words flow.

“We must acquire the possibility of conceiving of the Christ in such a way that we do not identify Him with the Father god. Many of the modern evangelical theologians are no longer able to differentiate between the general concept of God and the concept of the Christ. To be unable to find the Christ in life is a different matter from being unable to find the Father God. You know that it is not here a matter of doubting the Divinity of the Christ. It is a matter of clear differentiation, in the sphere of the Divine, between the Father God and the Christ God. This comes to expression in the soul of man. Not to find God the Father is a disease; not to find the Christ is a misfortune. For the human being is so connected with the Christ as to be inwardly dependent upon this connection. He is, however, also dependent upon that which has taken place as a historical event. He must find a connection with the Christ here upon earth, in external life. If he does not find it is a misfortune. Not to find the Father god, to be an atheist, is an illness. Not to find the Son God, the Christ, is a misfortune.” [29]

◊

“It was by turning their gaze into the past that the men of those ancient times felt the reality of spiritual things. ‘I must look back beyond my birth, far into the past, if I would see the Spiritual. There is the Spirit; out of that Spirit I am born; that Spirit must I find again. But I have departed far from Him.’

“Thus did man feel the Spirit from whom he had departed, as the Spirit of the Father God. The highest Initiate in the Mysteries was he who evolved in his heart and soul the forces whereby he could make manifest the Father in his own external human being. When the pupils crossed the threshold of the Mysteries and came into those sacred places which were institutions of Art and Science and of the sacred religious Rites at the same time, and when at length they stood before the highest Initiate, they saw in him the representative of the Father God. The ‘Fathers’ were higher Initiates than the ‘Sun-Heroes.’ ... Thus in the course of human evolution, in the consciousness of man, the ‘Out of God — out of the Father God — we are born,’ was supplemented by the word of life, of comfort and of strength, ‘In Christ we die’ — that is to say, in Him we live.” [30]

◊

“How are we to think about the Father God with truly spiritual comprehension

“Let us consider human beings, first in day-waking consciousness, then in night-sleeping consciousness, and let us compare the two states. We know that in full waking consciousness individuals are living as they have been placed to live within the order of this physical world. Just as the earth has had earlier stages of evolution — Saturn, Sun, Moon — and will undergo further evolution, so must humans themselves be recognized as the result of those earlier evolutionary periods. In this sense they belong in their waking state to the earth; by their nature they stand within the sphere of the earth. In waking condition they stand on a level with nature.

“It is not the same when human beings sleep. When we are asleep our physical and etheric bodies lie on the bed, and our astral body and ego are outside them. Let us look at the physical and etheric bodies. Of what do we consist, lying there in our physical and etheric bodies? We have — of course, at a more advanced stage — what we received in the old Saturn evolution and the old Sun evolution. That is now further evolved; we have the further development of our Saturn and Sun existence now during sleep. We do not have our Moon existence in what lies there on the bed. Nature has progressed from Moon existence to Earth existence. And the fact that the sleep condition is essential to us means that nature preserves in the sleeping human being a nature that is now below, a nature that only existed during the Saturn and Sun periods. That is subnature. That lies at the foundation of all beings through the fact that there is a human race. Humans fall during sleep into subnature, and from this fall illnesses appear. That is the realm of the Father God. When we sleep we enter the realm of the Father God, we enter subnature, the realm of the Father.” [31]

◊

“For in early Christian times, up to about the third or fourth century, when there was still a good deal of the Oriental wisdom in Christianity, men were occupying themselves intently with the question of the difference between the Father God and God the Son. These fine differences that engaged attention in the early Christian centuries have long ceased to have meaning for modern man, who has been occupied in developing egohood as a result of the influences I have described.

“A kind of untruth has thus found its way into modern religious consciousness. Through inner experience, through his analysis and synthesis of the world, man comes to the Father God. From tradition, he has God the Son. The Gospels speak of Him, tradition speaks of Him. Man has the Christ, he wants to acknowledge Him — but through inner experience he has Him no longer. Therefore he takes what he should apply only to the Father God and transfers it to the Christ God. Modern theology has not the Christ at all; it has only the Father — but it calls the Father ‘Christ,’ because it has received the tradition of the Christ Being in history and, quite naturally, wants to be Christian. If we were honest, we should simply be unable to call ourselves Christians in modern times.” [32]

◊

“Those who know that the progress of mankind depends upon living apprehension of the mighty Event of Golgotha are they who as the ‘Masters of Wisdom and of the Harmony of Feelings’ are united in the great Guiding Lodge of mankind. And as once the ‘tongues of fire’ hovered down as a living symbol upon the company of the apostles, so does the ‘Holy Spirit’ announced by Christ Himself reign as the Light over the Lodge of the Twelve. The Thirteenth is the Leader of the Lodge of the Twelve. The ‘Holy Spirit’ is the mighty Teacher of those we name the ‘Masters of Wisdom and of the Harmony of Feelings’. It is through them that his voice and his wisdom flow down to mankind in this or that stream upon the earth.” [33]

◊

"A Lodge of twelve Bodhisattvas [enlightened beings, Buddhas] is to be regarded as the Lodge directing all Earth evolution. The concept of ‘Teacher’ familiar to us at lower stages of existence can be applied, in essentials, to these twelve Bodhisattvas. They are Teachers, the great Inspirers of one portion or another of what mankind has to acquire.

"Whence do these Bodhisattvas receive what they have to proclaim from epoch to epoch? — If you were able to look into the great Spirit-Lodge of the twelve Bodhisattvas you would find that in the midst of the Twelve there is a Thirteenth — one who cannot be called a ‘Teacher’ in the same sense as the Bodhisattvas, but of whom we must say: He is that Being from whom wisdom itself streams as very substance. It is therefore quite correct to speak of the twelve Bodhisattvas in the great Spirit-Lodge grouped around One who is their Centre; they are wrapt in contemplation of the sublime Being from whom there streams what they have then to inculcate into Earth evolution in fulfilment of their missions. Thus there streams from the Thirteenth what the others have to teach. They are the ‘Teachers’, the ‘Inspirers’; the Thirteenth is himself the Being of whom the others teach, whom they proclaim from epoch to epoch. This Thirteenth is He whom the ancient Rishis called Vishva Karman, whom Zarathustra called Ahura Mazdao, whom we call the Christ. He is the Leader and Guide of the great Lodge of the Bodhisattvas. Hence the content of the proclamation made through the whole choir of the Bodhisattvas is the teaching concerning Christ, once called Vishva Karman. The Bodhisattva who became Buddha five to six centuries before our era was endowed with the powers of Vishva Karman. The Nathan Jesus who received the Christ into himself was not merely ‘endowed’ but ‘anointed’ — that is to say, permeated through and through by Vishva Karman, by Christ." [34]

VI.

Prayers

We began by asking to whom Waldorf students are expected to pray. In some cases, using prayers written by Rudolf Steiner, they address God or "God's spirit." [See "Prayers".] For Westerners, such prayers may seem conventionally — and therefore unobjectionably — monotheistic. But as we have seen, Steiner also advocated prayers that address multiple gods — "ye Fathers in the heavens." Devotees of Eastern religions will likely be comfortable with such prayers; others may not. 

In contrast to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Anthroposophy is polytheistic. Any Anthroposophical prayer that seems to address a One and Only Lord God of Creation is, to one degree or another, misleading. If Anthroposophy sometimes seems monotheistic, this is a misunderstanding. Steiner's vision is of a universe populated by multitudinous gods who stand at varying ranks. The rank of a group of gods reflects the evolutionary progress made by that group in their ascent toward greater divinity. Gods evolve along the same developmental path we humans are traveling, Steiner taught — although he said we may eventually attain a higher rank than any other upward-evolving beings. [See "Tenth Hierarchy".] At present, however, we stand below nine ranks of gods. [See "Polytheism".]

Anthroposophical prayers sometimes address or enumerate the nine ranks of gods above us. Often, if not always, Steiner's followers direct their attention to these multiple divinities:

"In the weaving of the ether

Man's web of destiny

Is received by Angels, Archangels, Archai.

"Into the astral world

The just consequences of man's earthly life

Die into Exousiai, Dynameis, Kyriotetes.

"In the essence of their deeds

The honest creations of man's earthly life

Are resurrected in Thrones, Cherubim, and Seraphim." [35]

The three ranks of deities mentioned in the first stanza comprise the "Third Hierarchy" of Anthroposophical belief. "Angels" (often called "Sons of Twilight" by Steiner's followers) are gods one step higher than humans; "Archangels" (often called "Spirits of Fire") stand two steps higher than us; "Archai" (or "Spirits of Personality") stand three steps above us. The deities in the second stanza comprise the "Second Hierarchy." "Exousiai" (or "Spirits of Form") are four steps higher than us; "Dynameis" (or "Spirits of Movement") are five steps up; "Kyriotetes" (or "Spirits of Wisdom") are six steps up. The gods in the third stanza comprise the "First Hierarchy." "Thrones" (or "Spirits of Will") stand seven levels higher than humanity. "Cherubim" (or "Spirits of Harmony") are eight steps up. "Seraphim" (or "Spirits of Love") stand nine levels above us.

To whom are Waldorf students expected to pray? The answer depends on the instruction individual Waldorf teachers provide to their students. Often, Steiner's complex vision is kept largely hidden from the kids. But sometimes the doctrines of Anthroposophy are revealed, to one degree or another, and the children's conception of the spiritual powers above them is affected as a result. Parents should certainly consider whether they are happy with this result. 

— Roger Rawlings

"The animals, the sun, the soil, the rain, all of these are important and necessary on the farm. 

But only God's grace will help the animals to be born and the plants to grow."

[Waldorf student work, courtesy of People for Legal and Nonsectarian Schools.]

Whenever you see a Waldorf practice that seems consistent with Western monotheistic religion, you may want to dig deeper. Steiner taught that monotheism is inaccurate; the universe is populated by a vast throng of gods. The vision of a single, supreme deity is a distant ideal, Steiner said — it is a goal, not a reality.

“Monotheism or monism in itself can only represent an ultimate ideal; it could never lead to a real understanding of the world." — Rudolf Steiner, THE MISSION OF THE FOLK SOULS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2005), p. 115.

According to Steiner, God is

our evolutionary goal — the being

atop the universal hierarchies.

Eventually we ourselves will become

God the Father.

[Shown here is a traditional depiction

of the great chain of being extending upward

from hell to heaven.

RHETORICA CHRISTIANA, 1579.]

Few of Steiner's ideas were original; he took most from his extensive reading. (None of his ideas were what he claimed: results of his own clairvoyant examination of the universe — clairvoyance is a myth, it doesn't exist. [See "Clairvoyance".])

For Christians, Steiner's most shocking tenet is that Christ is the Sun God. This heresy predated Steiner by centuries — it was imported into Christian mysticism by those who had relinquished pagan beliefs.

This mosaic dates from the first century AD, when Christianity and paganism overlapped in the Roman Empire. Christ is depicted as Helios, the Sun God. He is also given characteristics of Mithras and Sol.

[J. C. Cooper, AN ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TRADITIONAL SYMBOLS, (Thames and Hudson, 1978), p. 163.]

Steiner's conception of the Godhead 

is related to that of other gnostics and mystics. 

The following is from 

THE ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA:

"Negative mysticism: God and the Godhead

"The most daring forms of Christian mysticism have emphasized the absolute unknowability of God. They suggest that true contact with the transcendent involves going beyond all that we speak of as God — even the Trinity — to an inner 'God beyond God,' a divine Darkness or Desert in which all distinction is lost. This form of 'mystical atheism' has seemed suspicious to established religion; its adherents have usually tried to calm the suspicions of the orthodox by an insistence on the necessity, though incompleteness, of the affirmative ways to God. One of the earliest and most important exponents of this teaching was the Pseudo-Dionysius, who distinguished 'the super-essential Godhead' from all positive terms ascribed to God, even the Trinity (The Divine Names, chapter 13). In the West this tradition emerged later; it is first found in Erigena in the 9th century and is especially evident in the Rhineland school in the 13th and 14th centuries. According to Eckhart, even being and goodness are 'garments' or 'veils' under which God is hidden. In inviting his hearers to 'break through' to the hidden Godhead, he exclaimed, 'Let us pray to God that we may be free of "God," and that we may apprehend and rejoice in that everlasting truth in which the highest angel and the fly and the soul are equal' (German Sermons, 52). The notion of the hidden Godhead was renewed in the teaching of Jakob Böhme, who spoke of it as the Ungrund — 'the great Mystery,' 'the Abyss,' 'the eternal Stillness.' He stressed the fact of divine becoming (in a nontemporal sense): God is eternally the dark mystery of which nothing can be said but ever puts on the nature of light, love, and goodness wherein the divine is revealed to human beings." — "Christianity." ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA, Online, 11 Dec. 2012.

For more on God, the Godhead,

Christ, and related teachings,

please see "All",

"Polytheism", and "Trinity".

For explications of God's name

as given to Moses, see "Moses".

To delve into Steiner's teachings about

the Book of Genesis, see "Genesis".

And for the Anthroposophical view

of the Old Testament more generally,

see "Old Testament".

Endnotes

[1] Here are the two prayers generally used in Waldorf schools, both of them written by Steiner for the students to recite. They can be found in Rudolf Steiner, PRAYERS FOR PARENTS AND CHILDREN (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1995).

1.

“The Sun with loving light 

Makes bright for me each day; 

The soul with spirit power 

Gives strength unto my limbs; 

In sunlight shining clear 

I reverence, O God, 

The strength of humankind, 

That thou so graciously 

Hast planted in my soul, 

That I with all my might 

May love to work and learn. 

From Thee come light and strength, 

To Thee rise love and thanks.”

2.

“I look into the world; 

In which the Sun shines, 

In which the stars sparkle, 

In which the stones lie, 

The living plants are growing, 

The animals are feeling, 

In which the soul of man 

Gives dwelling for the spirit; 

I look into the soul 

Which lives within myself. 

God’s spirit weaves in light 

Of Sun and human soul, 

In world of space, without, 

In depths of soul, within. 

God’s spirit, ‘tis to Thee 

I turn myself in prayer, 

That strength and blessing grow 

In me, to learn and work.”

Some schools substitute the term “Creator Spirit” and/or “World Creator” for “God’s spirit.” Thus, at the Rudolf Steiner School of Ann Arbor (Michigan) the second prayer ends this way:

“I look into the soul,

That lives within my being

The World Creator weaves

In sunlight and in soul light,

In world space there without

In soul depths here within.

To Thee Creator Spirit

I will now turn my heart

To ask that strength and blessing

For learning and for work

May ever grow within me.”

http://www.steinerschool.org/public/inside/default.aspx 

— I last checked the Ann Arbor school's website on July 1, 2009.

[For an analysis of these prayers, see "Prayers".]

[2] Rudolf Steiner, THE MISSION OF THE FOLK SOULS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2005), p. 115.

Steiner said the Christian Trinity exists, but so do other trinities: The Christian triune God exists, but in a distant sense; it stands beyond a plethora of other gods who are nearer to us and more busy in our affairs. The highest attendants of God (members of the First Hierarchy) have experienced the presence of the Trinity, but perhaps only they have done so. 

"The Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones come from an earlier solar system. They have been in the vicinity of the highest godhead of all, namely the Trinity." — Synopsis of lecture 5, Rudolf Steiner's THE SPIRITUAL HIERARCHIES (Anthroposophical Publishing Company, 1928), GA 110.

In a sense, on the matter of origins and ultimate powers, Steiner chose silence. He focused on events in our own solar system, which is distant from the "highest godhead," and he discouraged investigation into ultimate origins. 

“In a purely intellectual way it is possible, of course, in the case of every given origin, to ask again after its origin ... [But in doing this] we only prolong questioning, as it were, mechanically ... [T]he facts themselves will put a natural end to questioning.” — Rudolf Steiner, OCCULT SCIENCE - AN OUTLINE (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1969), pp. 126-127.

The Godhead as conceived by Steiner most closely resembles the Hindu divinity Brahma. Anthroposophy resembles Hinduism nearly as much as it resembles Christianity. Steiner said the universe is polytheistic.

"Monism or monotheism in itself can only represent an ultimate ideal; it could never lead to a real understanding of the world, to a comprehensive, concrete view of the world. Nevertheless, in the post-Atlantean age the current of monotheism also had to be represented, so that the urge, the impulse toward monotheism devolved upon a single people, the Semitic people. The monistic principle is reflected in this people by a certain rigidity or inflexibility, whilst all the other peoples, in so far [sic] as their different divinities are comprehended in a unity, receive the impulse toward monism from them. The other peoples are inclined to pluralism.

"It is extremely important that this should be borne in mind and whoever is concerned with the continuance of the old Hebraic impulse will find the extremes of monotheism at the present day Monotheism amongst the learned Rabbis, in Rabbinism. The task of this particular people to propagate the doctrine that a single ultimate principle underlies the world. The task of all other peoples and Time Spirits was analytic, to representing the one World-Principle as being articulated into different Beings. In India, for example, the ultimate abstraction of the Unity underlying all things was divided into a tri-unity, just as the one god of Christianity is divided into Three Persons." — THE MISSION OF THE FOLK SOULS, pp. 115-116.

Steiner tried to affirm both polytheism and monotheism, which is logically absurd. 

"Pluralism is not possible without monism. We must recognize the necessity for both." — Ibid., p. 116. 

As a point about mental concepts, this is true: One concept implies its opposite; we must have both concepts. But applied to empirical reality, the concept is wrong. In reality, the universe is either one or the other, a monotheistic reality or a polytheistic reality. Thus, there may be one and only one god (monotheism), but in order to exist this god would not require the existence of multiple other gods (polytheism). Indeed, the existence of multiple gods would mean that there is no single, one-and-only god.

[For more on Anthroposophical polytheism, see "Polytheism".]

[3] Rudolf Steiner, THE LORD'S PRAYER (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2007), p. 64.

When Steiner speaks of "Christianity," he sometimes means his own teachings and sometimes he means mainstream Christian teachings, which are often quite different from his doctrines. When he uses terms such as "esoteric Christianity," he refers to teachings distinctly allied with his own.

Note that in some, perhaps reductive Anthroposophical interpretations, the Godhead is equated with the Holy Trinity. To understand this, however, we must remember that Anthroposophy is polytheistic, which means many gods are invoked, and the Trinity itself is a sort of committee of gods. Within this polytheistic vision, the terms "God," "Godhead," and "Trinity" can be taken, sometimes, as synonymous.

"God — referring to the Christian concept of the holy Trinity, the three aspects of one godhead ... The Trinity, as ultimate origin of the Creation of the world, inspires the hierarchies of [gods] ... [T]he same gods appear under different names in various cultures ... Anthroposophy sheds light on this complicated world of the gods and reveals the pattern of underlying connections." — Henk van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Sophia Books, Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), pp. 49-50.

The Trinity as described by Steiner (at least sometimes) consists of the gods of Saturn, the Sun, and the Old Moon. But in a broad sense, we must reconcile ourselves to the proposition that the Godhead lies beyond our comprehension. 

“Above [man], in the spiritual world, are three ranks of [gods], reaching to the Godhead which is so far beyond him as to be incomprehensible in his present state of development.” — Waldorf teacher Roy Wilkinson, RUDOLF STEINER: An Introduction to His Spiritual World-View (Temple Lodge Publishing 2005), p. 185.

Anthroposophists believe that a spark of divinity resides within each real, fully incarnated human being. This is called the "I" or spiritual ego, or (sometimes) the "ego body." The highest component of human spiritual nature, however, is called "spirit man," and this is sometimes described as the expression of the Godhead in human nature. [For a survey of human components as described by Steiner, see "Our Parts."]

[4] OCCULT SCIENCE - AN OUTLINE, p. 332, translator’s note; also Gary Lachman, RUDOLF STEINER (Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2007), p. 141.

[5] Rudolf Steiner, INTUITIVE THINKING AS A SPIRITUAL PATH (Wilder Publications, 2008), p. 92. A different translation is available from the Anthroposophic Press.

Steiner argued that his teachings present the "truth" about Christ, and thus they represent true Christianity, Bear in mind, however, that many concepts found in Steiner's teachings (e.g., karma, reincarnation, the Sun God, multiple ranks of gods, etc.) run counter to orthodox or traditional Christianity. If Anthroposophy is, in one sense, Christian, then in other senses (when it seems similar to Hinduism, for instance) it is clearly not Christian.

[6] Rudolf Steiner, THE LORD’S PRAYER (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2007), p. 17.

Many of Steiner's remarks come to us not from books he wrote but from lectures he delivered. Faithful adherents made transcriptions. Whether or not certain words should be put in quotation marks was, in these cases, a matter of interpretation. If the transcriber understood Steiner to put a certain spin on certain words, s/he might decide whether to put these words inside quotation marks.

[7] Rudolf Steiner, START NOW! A Book of Soul and Spiritual Exercises (SteinerBooks, 2004), p. 220.

[8] Ibid., p. 221.

[9] THE SPIRITUAL GROUND OF EDUCATION (Anthroposophic Press, 2004), p. 49.

[10] Rudolf Steiner, THE MISSION OF THE FOLK SOULS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2005), p. 99.

[11] Rudolf Steiner, ROSICRUCIAN WISDOM (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2000), p. 100. 

Steiner was speaking primarily of the first three incarnations of the solar system. [See "Old Saturn", "Old Sun", and "Old Moon, Etc.".]

[12]  Rudolf Steiner, THE PRINCIPLE OF SPIRITUAL ECONOMY IN CONNECTION WITH QUESTIONS OF REINCARNATION (Anthroposophic Press, 1986). p. 5.

[13] Rudolf Steiner, KARMIC RELATIONSHIPS, Vol. VI (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1989),  p. 125.

All such spiritual truths are complex and mysterious, Steiner taught; hence, the term "Sun God" appears here in quotation marks, to stress the incomplete nature of human comprehension.

[14] Rudolf Steiner, KARMIC RELATIONSHIPS, Vol. VIII (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1975), p. 78.

Reconciling Steiner's various statements about Christ, like his statements about many other subjects, is difficult if not indeed impossible. Steiner contradicted himself pretty often. We might simply note in passing that although, according to Steiner, Christ united with the Earth two millennia ago, Christ also "returned" to the Earth in the mid-twentieth century. [See "Second Coming of Christ" in the Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.]

[15] OCCULT SCIENCE - AN OUTLINE, p. 272.

[16] Rudolf Steiner, CORRESPONDENCE AND DOCUMENTS 1901-1925 (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1989), p. 83.

[17] Rudolf Steiner, THE FIFTH GOSPEL, (Rudolf Steiner Press), p. 225.

[18] Rudolf Steiner, LIFE BETWEEN DEATH AND REBIRTH (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1975), lecture 5, GA 141.

[19] Rudolf Steiner, UNDERSTANDING THE HUMAN BEING (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1993), p. 75.

Note that the triune God is a formula devised by “human cleverness.” Seen from this perspective (which Steiner alternately assumed and discarded), the trinity is illusory.

[20] Stewart C. Easton, MAN AND WORLD IN THE LIGHT OF ANTHROPOSOPHY (Anthroposophic Press, 1989), p. 163.

[21] THE SPIRITUAL FOUNDATION OF MORALITY (Anthroposophic Press, 1995), introduction by Malcolm Ian Gardner, p. xiv.

[22] "Whitsun or Pentecost", by Karen Mortenson, WALDORF EDUCATION: A Family Guide (Michaelmas Press, 1995), edited by Pamela Johnson Fenner and Karen L. Rivers, p. 171.

Whitsun may also be mixed, at Waldorf schools, with the Jewish Shavu'ot and other observances. 

[23] Rudolf Steiner, "Christ, the Virgin Sophia, and the Holy Spirit", THE NEW ESSENTIAL STEINER (Lindisfarne Books, Anthroposophic Press, 2009), ed. Robert McDermott, p. 164.

[For more about Sophia, see "Goddess".]

The cosmic or universal I may be conceived as the Godhead, and the Holy Ghost may then be conceived as the angelic messenger bringing this emanation of the Godhead.

[24] Rudolf Steiner, ISIS MARY SOPHIA (SteinerBooks, 2003), p. 49.

Clear differentiations and distinctions are not always to be found in spiritual matters as depicted in Anthroposophy. Thus, for instance, 

"[W]e must call the father of Jesus Christ the 'Holy Spirit that begot the Christ in the bodies of Jesus.'" — Rudolf Steiner, THE NEW ESSENTIAL STEINER, p. 177.

[25] Rudolf Steiner, THE MYSTERIES: Rudolf Steiner's Writings of Spiritual Initiation (Floris Books, 1997), ed. Andrew Welburn, p. 86.

[26] Sergei O. Prokofieff, THE MYSTERY OF THE RESURRECTION IN THE LIGHT OF ANTHROPOSOPHY (Temple Lodge Publishing, 2010), p. 70.

[27] Richard Seddon, quoting, in THE CHALLENGE OF LAZARUS-JOHN (Temple Lodge, 2015), p. 104.

[28] Rudolf Steiner, ROSICRUCIAN WISDOM, p. 121.

[29] Rudolf Steiner, THE MISSION OF THE ARCHANGEL MICHAEL (Anthroposophic Press, 1961), lecture 4, GA 174a.

[30] Rudolf Steiner, “The Mystery of Golgotha” (ANTHROPOSOPHY QUARTERLY, Vol. 1 (Anthroposophical Publishing Co., 1926), a lecture, GA 214.

[31] Rudolf Steiner, PASTORAL MEDICINE (Anthroposophic Press, 1987), lecture 11, GA 318.

[32] Rudolf Steiner, “The Seeds of Future Worlds” (THE GOLDEN BLADE, 1963), a lecture, GA 207.

[33] Rudolf Steiner, THE DEED OF CHRIST (Steiner Book Centre, 1954), lecture 1, GA 107.

[34] Rudolf Steiner, THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1964), lecture 7, GA 114.

[Re. the "Nathan Jesus": see "Was He Christian?"]

[35] Rudolf Steiner, a prayer on p. 62 of PRAYERS AND GRACES (Floris Books, 1996), compiled by Michael Jones.

[R.R.]