The Gospel of Hellas - Research Institute for Waldorf Education

the gospel of hellas
The shadow of Greek culture leads to materialism in knowledge and
naturalism in art. Those who interpret Aristotle in a manner of mere revival
are agnostics, and those who follow him according to the interpretation of
Thomism remain medievalists.
America stands as the most modern among the great nations of the world,
as that with the shortest history and least heritage. What has the spirit of
Hellas to say to the spirit of pioneering America, to a country which stands in
the forefront among nations in the greatest crisis of history, looking towards a
new order of the world?
The ideals of the ancients in regard to freedom of thought and knowledge
for its own sake, the aim towards a union of art and morality, the equality of
political rights in a democracy are innately human. Yet their embodiment takes
the form which accords with our present consciousness and therefore must
differ from the form they assumed during pre-Christian Hellas. The sublime
achievements of the Hellenes were possible only through faculties of the soul
which underlay these creations and which we have the power to reawaken
within our own. Awe and wonder, compassion and love, and, finally, conscience
were the imperishables given the world by Greece. Through these faculties
the Hellenes surpassed their limitations as mere creatures of their gods. Awe
and wonder in their thoughts concerning nature, compassion and love in their
feelings towards others, conscience in their willing impulses towards the inner
activity of the spirit: these three capacities which the Hellenes developed in
their souls are in reality the essence and substance of true Christianity.
This is the course which the Gospel of Hellas reveals time and again. It
is the true path along which America must travel if she would develop in the
twentieth century a genuine culture of her own!