Editing Rudolf Steiner (section)

==== Christ and human evolution ====
Steiner describes Christ as the unique pivot and meaning of earth's evolutionary processes and human history, redeeming [[The Fall of Man|the Fall]] from [[Paradise]].<ref name="Willmann">{{Cite journal |last=Willmann |first=Carlo |year=2001 |title=Waldorfpädagogik: Theologische und religionspädagogische Befunde |journal=Kölner Veröffentlichungen zur Religionsgeschichte |language=de |publisher=Böhlau |publication-place=Köln Weimar Wien |volume=27 |isbn=978-3-412-16700-4 |issn=0030-9230 |postscript=Especially chapters 1.3, 1.4.}}</ref> He understood the Christ as a being that unifies and inspires all religions, not belonging to a particular religious faith. To be "Christian" is, for Steiner, a search for balance between polarizing extremes<ref name="Willmann" />{{rp|102–3}} and the ability to manifest love in freedom.<ref name=RAMcD/>

Central principles of his understanding include:
*The being of Christ is central to ''all'' religions, though called by different names by each.
*Every religion is valid and true for the time and cultural context in which it was born.
*Historical forms of Christianity need to be transformed in our times in order to meet the ongoing evolution of humanity.

In Steiner's [[esoteric cosmology]], the spiritual development of humanity is interwoven in and inseparable from the cosmological development of the universe. Continuing the evolution that led to humanity being born out of the natural world, the Christ being brings an impulse enabling human consciousness of the forces that act creatively, but unconsciously, in nature.<ref>An Outline of Esoteric Science, Anthroposophic, SteinerBooks, 1997</ref>