The Case for Anthroposophy

Quick Look

• A well-researched contemporary perspective on anthroposophy and the teachings of Rudolf Steiner from a pragmatic spiritual thinker
• Reveals how anthroposophy's progressive approach to spiritual development can enable us to better understand the world's religions
• Considers the challenges anthroposophy poses to the contemporary world view and explores anthroposophy's relationship to modern medicine, religion, politics and society, including discussion of how the principles of natural science provide the foundation for spiritual-scientific enquiry
• Insightful reading for people searching for different ways of comprehending the world around them

What place does anthroposophy have in the modern world? Former sceptic Wolfgang Müller offers a balanced perspective on Rudolf Steiner's teachings, arguing that anthroposophy can enrich our understanding of spiritual development, medicine and culture.

Description

What relevance do anthroposophy and the teachings of Rudolf Steiner have for the world today? Spiritual thinker Wolfgang Müller was initially sceptical that anthroposophy had any contemporary value. It wasn't until many years after his first encounter with the challenging and sometimes controversial worldview that a closer study of Steiner's writings prompted him to make a radical reappraisal.

In this thought-provoking book, Müller explains how anthroposophy, far from being out of touch with the modern world, has important contributions to make towards our understanding of contemporary life. He shows, for example, how anthroposophy builds on the insights of natural science to explore the inner life of human beings, and how its progressive view of human spiritual development can help us better understand the world's religions. He looks at anthroposophy's approach to medicine, which takes into account both the physical and spiritual aspects of human beings, and goes on to consider Steiner's social and political ideas, which seek to bring our public spheres of culture, politics and economics into greater balance. Finally, Müller explores accusations of racism that have been made against Steiner in recent years and shows how they are fundamentally at odds with Steiner's view of a truly universal humanity.

This book offers a balanced and well-researched contemporary perspective on anthroposophy from a former sceptic and will be of value to anyone looking for alternative ways of understanding our world.

Author

Wolfgang Müller studied history and German literature at the universities of Heidlberg and Hamburg, Germany. He has worked in radio and television as an editor for science and contemporary history programmes. He has published numerous articles and books. He lives in Hamburg.

Cynthia Hindes is a retired priest of The Christian Community in the USA.