[CathBraun]

dear lynette,
this, too, has become an interest of mine. i first had a sense of this when read bk by rudolf steiner about secret brotherhoods.this is an excerpt fr a book review: http://www.doyletics.com/arj/secretbr.htm
"paradoxically the most dangerous of the brotherhoods or societies are those who vociferously spread the gospel that materialism has already been overcome because, deep down and in secret, their aims really are for power. they obtain this power by inculcating in their members materialistic beliefs which ensure that these members will remain attached to earth in the human realm after death. it is from these attached souls that these societies extract their power.....
these societies or brotherhoods have another goal, which is to make the appearance of christ in the etheric plane during the first third of the twentieth century pass by unnoticed. "

further study led to my acquisition of bk "the imagination of pentecost:rudolf steiner and contemporay spirituality" by richard leviton

books.google.com/books?isbn=0880103795...
if the link does not wk, can google for this exactly
richard leviton imagination of pentecost (link is second from top)
leviton's book has helped me a great deal(see the table of contents)! so, please take a look. it has not been easy for me, as it is very complex material but it may indeed explain some of your questions and intuitions. if you want further good introductions to steiner's biblical interpretations, see link for smith's wks in general discussion "christ jesus" thread. nina