Studies in the Gospels Volume 1

Emil Bock was a leading light in the early days of the Christian Community, which is rooted in the teachings of Rudolf Steiner. These studies originally appeared in a series of newsletters at a time when the author was also making a new translation of the Gospels from Greek. Rudolf Steiner's perspective those beyond the normal limits of biblical criticism and materialistic understandings, reinstating the importance of what he called the supersensible, in the light of which the miracles of Christ can be understood afresh. Bock examines differences between the consciousness of the various evangelists, and he uses Steiner's scheme of three stages in spiritual perception, namely imagination, inspiration and intuition as means of deepening his own understanding. The topics covered are very broad, including parables, miracles, the Sermon on the Mount, John the Baptist, Judas and Peter. I found his comments on the Beatitudes especially interesting in shedding new light on their layers of meaning.