When we are thus going to analyse or measure the spiritual standard of terrestrial mankind, we must have a fixed point in relation to which we can determine the result of our measuring. We find such a fixed point in the attitude of this mankind to the old world impulse. Through this attitude we see that this impulse has become antiquated for thousands of terrestrial human beings, regardless of whether it appears in the form of Buddhism, Islam or Christianity, and quite regardless of whether people are born as Orientals or as Westerners. This in turn means that all over the world there are people who have outgrown what they learnt or believed as children, people who have grown beyond the Earth's current greatest forms of religion. That this situation arises is due to the great development of feeling and intelligence that has taken place during the last century. These beings have thus been subject to this development, which in turn means the same as them having had their consciousness enriched with experiences, which again in turn have given rise to great, fundamental questions in all the individuals, questions that were not of current interest at all at those times when the religions were being bestowed on us by their elevated founders, and therefore questions that the religions were not adapted to answer. The religions were thus adapted only to give answers to the most current questions of those times. And since the spiritual standard of terrestrial mankind, particularly within the sphere of intelligence, was very primitive, the questions or desire for real knowledge that people had at that time were to a corresponding degree very primitive. In order not to seem far too far-fetched or improbable, religions had therefore to be adapted to the primitive level of evolution of these beings. But since thousands of years have now elapsed since the old world impulse was translated into the form of religions, and in all other spheres these thousands of years have made their evolutionary mark in the consciousness of terrestrial mankind, while the forms of religions have not undergone a corresponding transformation or expansion, but still occupy only their primitive or limited spheres in the form of dogmas, it is evident that the most advanced beings in existence or those most influenced by evolution must move outside the limits of the religions with large parts of their consciousness, indeed they may simply be in conflict with their use of words when this is taken literally and not in a symbolic form, as really was its original purpose in the world plan. And the greater these new layers of consciousness that exist outside the religions are, these layers being particularly represented by technology, science and art, the more their originators will come to be in disharmony with their use of words or dogmas. And since the consequences of this for great parts of terrestrial mankind have meant a complete or partial liberation from dogma or severance from religion, we thus see that this mankind emerges for us in two large main groups. Of these the one thus consists of those beings we have just mentioned who have broken away from the religions, the dogmas or the old world impulse, while the other, on the contrary, consists of the beings for whom these realities still have their full inspirational force, and for whom they are therefore still an indispensable blessing. Here in Livets Bog (The Book of Life) these two large main groups are called "Group A" and "Group B" respectively. The beings of these two large main groups, that is the whole of terrestrial mankind, can in turn be divided into six distinct categories. Of these the first three belong to Group A while the last three are to be considered as constituting Group B. Any terrestrial human whatsoever can thus be classified under one or other of these six categories. The beings in these categories differ from one another in their specific state of evolution. This has not been the same for all beings, but has formed itself so that some beings at the moment appear with too well developed feeling in relation to their intelligence while there are others where the opposite is the case. But at the same time there are also beings in which these two factors of consciousness are equal or in balance. Since the mutual relationship between these two prominent factors in the individual's consciousness is absolutely decisive for its expression of will or its course of action, its partiality or impartiality towards this or that, its religious standard, what it can believe in and what it cannot believe in and so on, the seeker after truth cannot sufficiently be recommended to particularly fix in his mind the following analyses of the above-mentioned categories, since the recognition of the absurdity or abnormality in every form of intolerance or ill-will towards beings who think or perceive in another way than he does, will then become alive within him.