Book excerpt: "Christianity is not a matter of a religion or even a denomination; it is not a question of a particular culture. Christ is there for all humanity." (from the book) In the old mystery cultures, individuals experienced themselves as "children" of the gods, or even as their instruments. According to Rudolf Steiner's spiritual science, the birth of independent thinking did not arise until our present state of consciousness--the awareness of one's individual self. But who is this "I"? Virginia Sease and Manfred Schmidt-Brabant maintain that true self-knowledge is intimately related to knowledge of the central being of world evolution--Christ, the "I AM." Focusing on the being of Christ and on Christianity, the authors present a series of engaging lectures on the development of mystery wisdom today. Having given an overview of the history of the mysteries in their book Paths of the Christian Mysteries, the authors deepen and expand their study by drawing particular attention to the effect of the "Christ mysteries." Some essential themes of this new volume include the transformation of conscience, the place of prayer and meditation, and the significance of sacrifice today.