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This early, fundamental work shows how Christianity arose out of what was prepared in the pre-Christian Mysteries. Christianity, however, was not merely a further development of what existed in these Mysteries but something unique and independent. From an examination of the ancient Mysteries, Steiner goes on to discuss the Gospels, the Lazarus miracle, the Apocalypse of St. John, Jesus and his historical background, and more. This book is a foundation for what Steiner later more fully develops concerning the nature of Christ and Christianity. It was originally published in German as, Das Christentum Als Mystische Tatsache und die Mysterien des Altertums.

Chapter titles include:
    Points of View,
    The Mysteries and Mystery Wisdom,
    The Greek Sages before Plato in the
        Light of Mystery Wisdom,
    Plato as Mystic,
    The Wisdom of the Mysteries and the Myth,
    The Mystery Wisdom of Egypt,
    The Gospels,
    The Lazarus Miracle,
    The Apocalypse of St. John,
    Jesus and His Historical Background,
    The Nature of Christianity,
    Christianity and Pagan Wisdom,
    St. Augustine and the Church.

In a preface to the second (German) edition of this book, the author comments, “The attempt has been made not merely to represent historically the mystical content of Christianity, but to describe the origin of Christianity from the mystical point of view ... Only the book itself can make clear that by ‘mystical’ its author does not imply a conception which relies more on vague feelings than on strictly scientific statements. It is true that mysticism is at present widely understood in the former sense, and hence it is declared by many to be a sphere of the human soul life with which true science can have nothing to do. In this book the word mysticism is used in the sense of the presentation of a spiritual fact which can only be recognized in its true nature by a cognition derived from the sources of spiritual life itself.”

Known Publications:

• Das Christentum Als Mystische Tatsache und die Mysterien des Altertums, German language editions: 1901, 1924, 1924, 1936, 1960, 1987 German language editions: 1902, 1910, 1910, 1910, 1925, (1936), 1949, 1959, 1976, 1989 ISBN 3-7274-0080-3,
• Christianity As Mystical Fact, G. P. Putnam's Sons, London and New York, 1914, 1922, 240 pp. plus notes, authorized English translation from the 2nd German edition of 1910 by H. Collison
• Christianity As Mystical Fact, Anthroposophical Literature Concern, Highland, New York, 1914, 1922, 240 pp. plus notes, translation from the 2nd German edition of 1910 by H. Collison
• Christianity As Mystical Fact, G. P. Putnam, London and New York, 1930, revised and enlarged by H. Collison
• Christianity As Mystical Fact, Rudolf Steiner Publishing Company, London, 1938, 1948, 240 pp. plus notes, translation from the 2nd German edition of 1910, edited by H. Collison
• Christianity As Mystical Fact, Anthroposophical Publishing Co., London, 1959, translation from the German by D. S. Osmond
• Christianity As Mystical Fact, Anthroposophic Press, New York, 1947, 1972, 1986, 195 pp., translated from the second German edition of 1910 by H. Monges ISBN 0-88010-160-1,
• Christianity As Mystical Fact, Rudolf Steiner Publications, West Nyack, New York, 1961, 200 pp. plus notes, translated from the German by E. A. Frommer, Gabrielle Hess, and Peter Kaendler
• Occult Mysteries of Antiquity and Christianity as Mystical Fact, Rudolf Steiner Publications, Blauvelt, New York, c.1961, 204 pp. plus notes plus reference guide plus index, translated from the German by E. A. Frommer, Gabrielle Hess, and Peter Kaendler
• Christianity As Mystical Fact, Rudolf Steiner Press, London, 1972, 155 pp., translated from the German by Charles Davy and Adam Bittleston ISBN 0-85440-252-7, Cloth ISBN 0-85440-256-X, Paper
• Christianity As Mystical Fact, Garber Communications, Blauvelt, N. Y., c.1985 ISBN 0-89345-021-9,
• Christianity As Mystical Fact, Anthroposophic Press, Hudson NY, 1997, translated from the German by A. Welburn ISBN 0-88010-436-8,
• Reprinted by Kessinger Publications