World redeemers

World redeemers are, in Martinus' terminology, spiritually advanced beings whose mission is directed towards humanity as a whole. They guide human beings from primitiveness towards intellectuality and humaneness, and inspire the moral and religious development of entire peoples. ^[1] The term does not mean that they redeem the whole universe: in Livets Bog, Martinus specifies that they are “redeemers of human beings”, called world redeemers because their mission addresses mankind collectively throughout the world. ^[2]

The principle of world redemption

World redemption is presented as an expression of the cosmic parent principle. As parents teach and protect their children, world redeemers function as spiritual teachers for the groups and peoples to whom they are sent. Martinus says that such beings are ahead of ordinary humanity in spirit and culture and have previously passed through the development into which they lead others. ^[3] Their task is therefore to guide humanity spiritually through the teaching associated with their mission.

This guidance belongs to the evolutionary movement from inhumaneness to humaneness. Martinus describes world religions as arising through this principle, with their founders—“the so-called ‘world redeemers’”—as pioneers of their followers' mental and moral improvement. ^[4] In this sense, world redemption works through the redeemer's spiritual teaching.

Light and dark world redeemers

Martinus distinguishes between two phases of the evolutionary spiral. In its first half, world redeemers give moral instruction based on what he calls the Creative Principle's dark radiation; in its latter half, they guide development through ideals founded on its light radiation. ^[5] The two forms of guidance correspond to different stages in humanity's development.

In Martinus' account, the older dark morality is associated with hatred, war, murder, punishment, meat-eating and ideas of “righteous indignation” or “holy wrath”. The light morality is expressed in forgiveness, love of one's neighbour and the refusal to take revenge. ^[6] Terrestrial humanity is said to have passed the culmination of the dark radiation, while the light radiation is still developing. Consequently, the direct mission of dark world redeemers has become superfluous in the earthly zone, although remnants of that morality continue to influence human consciousness. ^[7]

Their place in human evolution

World redeemers are described as the most outstanding among beings rich in experience from earlier lives. Martinus connects accumulated experience—especially experience of suffering—with the ability to understand others, feel compassion and act tolerantly. The beings he calls wise men, true prophets and world redeemers represent the highest expression of this development in the earthly zone. ^[8] They are the “salt” of terrestrial mentality: they help liberate humanity from corruption and guide it towards cultures increasingly based upon spirit and intellectuality. ^[9]

Their evolutionary position is nevertheless relative. A world redeemer is not the Godhead itself, nor a redeemer of macrocosmic beings. Martinus warns that humanity has often confused world redeemers with globe or solar redeemers, and has even worshipped them as the Godhead. He presents them instead as beings who, despite their greatness in human eyes, still occupy a limited place in the wider scale of the spiral cycle. ^[10]

Martinus does not dismiss the devotion that has arisen around them. He explains that worship can originate in love and admiration for a being who displays the greatest divinity humanity has yet encountered. When feeling is much more developed than intelligence, however, the experience may be expressed through inaccurate images and become superstition. ^[11] As intelligence develops, the world redeemer can take a more natural place in the understanding of existence, allowing a genuine experience of God to replace the superstition. ^[12]

The world redeemer as a finished human being

In the highest phase of world redemption, Martinus identifies the redeemer with the finished human being in God's image. Such a being has passed through the zone of darkness and is characterised by pure love towards every living being, whether friend or enemy. It is therefore qualified to create morality and civilisation for a world whose humanity has become mature enough to receive cosmic analyses. Martinus presents the revelation associated with Christ as an example of this mission. ^[13]

The finished human being does not necessarily appear outwardly as extraordinary. Martinus says that Christ had to incarnate in an ordinary, unfinished terrestrial organism that could not express his entire consciousness. His physical appearance therefore concealed his spiritual identity from most contemporaries. ^[14] The mission is not primarily a material profession or a demonstration of worldly expertise; it is the revelation of the highest knowledge of life and the creator, together with a perfect moral example. ^[15] Martinus further describes the world redeemer as spiritually sovereign and not susceptible to the tendencies that would undermine this cosmic capacity. ^[16]

Martinus makes neighbourly love central to the qualification of a world redeemer. He describes the world redeemer as the incarnation not only of kindness and forgiveness but of “the science of neighbourly love”. A claimant whose conduct is marked by denigration or hostility thereby contradicts the very quality that would be necessary for such a mission. ^[17]

Buddha, Mohammed and Christ

Martinus names Buddha, Mohammed and Christ as world redeemers whose lives have stimulated the later form of world redemption. Their mission is associated with the emergence of a lasting peace and with the principle he calls the Christ-principle: the development of neighbourly love. ^[18] In another passage he presents the three as examples of beings whose lives demonstrate the power of love and whose influence has endured across centuries. ^[19]

Christ's mission is given particular attention because Martinus presents Christ as a finished human being whose revelation and way of being express the law of love. ^[20] For people still governed by fear of punishment, the formula “Thy sins are forgiven thee” could provide immediate peace. Martinus also explains that the formula was adapted to the mentality of people who could not yet understand a cosmic analysis, and that its effect was to release them from an imaginary sin-complex. ^[21] ^[22]

Redemption and the individual's development

World redemption is described as guidance, inspiration and the awakening of a higher way of being. The world redeemer's example makes visible the consciousness towards which humanity is developing. ^[23] Martinus also says that world redemption gives troubled beings peace of mind and a stronger trust in the Godhead, while the effects of actions remain part of life's experience. ^[24]

In this perspective, the “second coming of Christ” is not principally the arrival of another external figure. It is the gradual emergence in every human being of the humane psyche and cosmic consciousness that the world redeemer already embodies. The individual's future salvation therefore consists in coming to know its own psyche, purpose and destiny, and in developing the mentality of the world redeemer. ^[25]

Martinus connects world redeemers with the Great Birth and cosmic consciousness. He describes such beings as having experienced the Great Birth in higher worlds and being born on Earth to fulfil a mission and create a refined civilisation. ^[26] In the final stage of world redemption, Christ beings help an aspirant's talent kernels open to cosmic consciousness, enabling awake, day-conscious experience beyond the physical plane. ^[27] The redeemer thus functions both as teacher and as living evidence of the destination of human evolution.

Lasting significance

The words and behaviour of world redeemers remain relevant because they unite universal goodwill with a living, intellectual understanding of life. Martinus says that their answers become increasingly compelling as humanity's intellectuality grows, especially while war, suffering and the absence of mutual understanding continue. ^[28] Their lasting significance lies, in Martinus' account, in the example and guidance they give for the transformation of human consciousness from the morality of force to the morality of love.

References

[1] The Eternal World Picture 1, section 2.2

[2] Livets Bog 1, section 57

[3] The Eternal World Picture 1, section 2.2

[4] The Eternal World Picture 1, section 2.2

[5] Livets Bog 1, section 40

[6] Livets Bog 1, section 40

[7] Livets Bog 1, section 40

[8] Livets Bog 2, section 636

[9] Livets Bog 2, section 636

[10] Livets Bog 1, section 59

[11] Livets Bog 1, section 59

[12] Livets Bog 1, section 60

[13] The Eternal World Picture 2, section 23.4

[14] The Eternal World Picture 2, section 23.4

[15] The Eternal World Picture 2, section 23.4

[16] Livets Bog 5, section 1895

[17] Article 0618

[18] Livets Bog 3, section 979

[19] Kosmisk bevidsthed, section 2.6 (*)

[20] The Eternal World Picture 2, section 23.4

[21] Livets Bog 3, section 861

[22] Livets Bog 3, section 862

[23] Livets Bog 5, section 1734

[24] Livets Bog 3, section 861

[25] Livets Bog 5, section 1734

[26] Livets Bog 1, section 248

[27] The Eternal World Picture 2, section 23.10

[28] Livets Bog 5, section 1728

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