Seleman, ex-Sultan of the Mohammedans, Writes That He Does Not Have Divine Love and is Going to Investigate It

August 8, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington D.C.

I am here, Seleman.

I am an ex-Sultan of the Mohammedans. I do not know time, but about four hundred years ago. Yes, I am still a follower of the Prophet, and I am in our paradise and happy. God is great. Allah is his name and Mohammed is his prophet.

I had a desire to learn what the writers who have written you tonight might say, and so I stayed and listened to them and found that their doctrines of the Divine Love of the Father are new to me. The Mohammedans do not understand this Love, and when I heard that it gave such bliss to those who possessed it, I became interested and wondered what it really meant.

We have not this Love, and our happiness comes to us from our brotherly love and our worship of Allah and our devotion to his prophet. As I wondered, the thought came to me that we should have been taught to know what this Love means, and if our Allah is not such a loving God as the God that these Christians tell of. I am going to inquire into this, because if there be a greater happiness than what I now have, I want to learn about it and, if it exists, to become a partaker of it.

We don't have much intercourse with the Christian spirits, as our Heavens are separate from theirs and we believe that we have the true Heavens and are the chosen of God, and that all these Christians are in the dark.

Well, these Christians seem to be brighter and more beautiful than do the spirits in our Heavens and that has caused me to think, also. I know that in our Heavens, the higher we progress the more beautiful we become and the brighter we seem to be, and that the condition of the progress of the individual determines his appearance and, knowing this, I have come to think that these Christians live in a higher or more progressive Heaven than ours.

I am dissatisfied now, and I will investigate. Can you tell me the best way to do so? Yes, some are who have not written. I will do so. There is one here - a beautiful woman - who says she is your grandmother. I will ask her and maybe she can start me on my investigation. Well, I will say goodnight. I will certainly come again.

Your friend,
Seleman

**********

Helen Confirms the Previous Spirit Writings

August 8, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Helen.

Well, my dear, you have had a great many writings tonight and you must feel tired and I will not keep you, though, I should like to tell you of my love and my desire for your love. But I must stop.

(Mr. Padgett asked if Seleman had visualized his grandmother.) Yes, he was, and I am interested in him. Your grandmother is talking to him now. I hope that he may see the light.

With all my love, I am

Your own true and loving
Helen

Loyola, the Jesuit, Writes That He Suffered in Darkness Many Long Years Before Becoming a Follower of Jesus' Teachings and an Inhabitant of the Celestial Heavens

August 8, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Loyola the Jesuit.

Yes, I am a follower of the Master and a very weak one. I was a persecutor of those who differed from me in my views of religious things and duty, as a consequence was the cause of the death of many a true Christian as I see the truth to be.

And on earth my followers - now in many parts of the world - have the same bitter feelings against all who do not think as they do upon religious matter and were it not for the laws of the countries in which, they live they would do as I did.

How I have suffered since I became a spirit for all the evil, which I inflicted on mankind when I lived on earth in what I thought then was a religious cause. But thank God even my sins have been forgiven and I am now an inhabitant of my Father's Kingdom. But, oh, the long years of bitter suffering and remorse and the darkness of blackest night that I lived in among howling devils and lost souls as they thought.

But now I know that God's mercy is so wide that the greatest sinner may be saved and receive the Great Love of the Father.

I write this because I have never before communicated to mortal in this way and I want to give warning to the world, and especially to my followers on earth, that the truths of God are eternal and will live forever, and that no persecution in the name of truth will meet the approval of God or save from punishment and torment those who engage in it no matter how honest they may think themselves to be, or how much they believe that they are doing their duty to God.

God has given to every man a free will, which even he does not attempt to curb or bind, and no mere creature of his has any right to say to a man that he shall or shall not believe this or that and exercise his will according to the enforced or seeming belief. No, man is a free agent and can do as he pleases in regards to his beliefs, and even God will not force him to believe, but when he believes that which is not true he will certainly have to pay the penalties of his erroneous beliefs, because the truths of God are fixed, and with these truths operate laws that are inexorable, and men who fail to conform to the requirements of these laws must pay the penalties to the last farthing. These laws never change and are supreme.

I am now a redeemed spirit through the Grace of God and have realized what His Love means and am an inhabitant of the Celestial Heavens. But not because of my works on earth, but because of the great overshadowing Love of the Father. So I say, seek the truth as it may be found in Jesus' teachings and shun the dogmas and creeds of the churches as you would a poisonous thing of death.

I will stop now, but thank you for the opportunity of making this my confession. So with all my kindest wishes,

I am your brother in Christ,
the Jesuit, Loyola

St. Celestia Writes About the Great Gift of Divine Love and That Jesus Did Not Come as a Sacrifice for our Sins

August 8, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Celestia.

I was a Christian woman who was martyred by the fanatic Church of Rome. I lived in Italy and was a follower of Jesus, but not a believer in the doctrines of the Romish Church.

It was long years after my death I was canonized by the very church, which killed me. Of course, the Pope and officials who canonized me were different from those who killed me.

I want to tell you that I am interested in your mission and am trying to help you do the work of the Master. He is the saviour of mankind and it must be taught what manner he is their saviour - not as the Jesus who died on the cross, not because his blood was spilled by the Roman soldiers, not because of any vicarious atonement, but because he brought to the light and knowledge of men the fact that the Father had after long centuries when He had withdrawn the Great Gift of the Divine Love rebestowed it and taught the way in which men might become partakers of that Love even by prayers and faith.

The soul of man is the one thing that enables him to become like the Father and is the most important part of man's creation. If men will understand this and learn that this soul is capable of receiving this Divine Love and becoming a part of God's Divinity, they will fully realize the mission of the Master in coming to earth.

Let man abandon the idea that Jesus came as a sacrifice for their sins. He came as a messenger from God, bringing the Divine Gift and the knowledge as to how men might obtain that gift. He did not come to pay any debt, which man owed the Father or to appease any wrath of the Father, because man owed no debt and God had no wrath towards him. He came as a mediator in the sense that he was a messenger of light and truth and a shower of the way. Why will men continue to cling to the old damnable doctrine of sacrifice?

Even in the days of Abraham, God never required a sacrifice for sin and no sin of man was ever removed by shedding the blood of a goat or any other animal. To teach and believe such a dogma places God on the plane of an angry and jealous God and makes Him satisfied with the trifling thing of having the blood of an animal shed to appease his anger and remove his jealousy.

God is now and has been from the beginning a God of Love and man is and has been the object of that Love. But unless man seeks that Love and opens up his soul to the inflowing of that Love, he can never become reconciled to God. Love cannot be obtained in the soul of man by anything other than the desire and will of man to have it come into his soul. God wants only the love of man not his fear or dread of consequence because of disobedience. So I say let men know that there is only one thing in all the universe that will reconcile him to God. And that is the opening up of the soul of man to the inflowing of the Divine Love and the prayer to God that such Love may come into his soul.

I do not know that I can say more tonight and will stop, but sometime I will come again and write further.

My home is in the Celestial Heavens far above the spiritual world. Well, we are all working with the Master and where he leads we follow and work, also. If you will pray and believe you will most assuredly.

Yes, we all pray for you and our prayers ascend to the Father with all earnestness and faith. You would be surprised to know the number of Celestial Spirits who are interested in and are praying for you. I will surely tell him, but as you say, he knows it already, but as you wish me to do so, I will and I know that he loves you, too, and wants you to become his true disciple.

I will say goodnight.

Your friend and Sister in Christ,
St. Celestia

Josephus, a former Jewish Historian, Writes that God Has No Chosen People and He Loves All of His Children

August 8, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am Josephus.

I am the Jewish historian and now a Christian. You are not a man to let alone. I mean that I must write some of my knowledge of the things of those ancient days, for I see that you are selected to do a great work and I want to contribute to the truth of Jesus' life on earth. He lived just before I wrote, but I had heard of him many times, and I know that he was a real existing being. In my history of the Jews, I mentioned him and when the learned say that what is there said is interpolated, they say what is not true; for he did live and taught in Palestine as the New Testament claims.

I never met him, but the wonders of his works were circulated all over the country and caused much agitation on the part of the leaders of the Jews. I never wrote much about him, because we all looked upon him as a mere agitator and destroyer of our religion, and to such we never gave much notoriety in our writings.

But this same Jesus of Nazareth lived as a man and was crucified by the Romans at the clamor of the Jews. I want to tell you this, because it is claimed that he never lived on earth.

I am a follower of him and believe in his teachings and have received the New Birth that he taught. I live in the Celestial Heavens where only his followers live. He was the true son of God, and his mission was to show men the way to God's Love and to declare the rebestowal of the Divine Love. I tell you that this is the most important truth in all the Heavens, except this, that God is Love. These two constitute the hope of mankind and furnish the means by which man may acquire immortality.

Without this New Birth, men will remain merely men, and will not partake of the Divine Love, and the home in the Celestial Spheres. I say this, because I know from experience what this New Birth means, and from observation, that those who have never received it cannot enter these Spheres. So man must believe this great truth.

Many Jews have become believers since becoming inhabitants of the spirit world, but the large majority of the inhabitants of the Celestial Heavens are those whom we called Gentiles. God had no chosen people in the sense that He designed to save any particular nation in preference to all others. He knows no preference. All are His children and the great gift is for all who ask for it in faith.

I must not write more tonight, but with your permission will come again.

Vespasian is a Christian now, but he never was while on earth, notwithstanding that it was said that he was. He continued a pagan as long as he lived, but he knew something of the Christian teachings. And after he had been in the spirit world a considerable time, he received the light and was Born Again. He is in the Celestial Heavens and a follower of the Master.

So you see, many Jews and Gentiles and pagans who rejected the Master and his teachings on earth have since becoming spirits, had the opportunity, and embraced it, of becoming partakers of the Divine Love and followers of the Master.

Well, you may be surprised to know that Herod is also a Christian. But no pen can portray the sufferings that he had to undergo. Oh, the long years of repentance and torment and darkness. His experience was a Hell, indeed. But the Love and mercy of the Father were even sufficient for his redemption, and among all the spirits of our Celestial Heavens, none are more humble and meek than is this same Herod. His life, voluntarily assumed, is one of service and devotion to the Master. I think that his love for the Master is so great, that even he cannot appreciate it.

I will, with all my love and earnestness, accept your invitation, for the work is of the greatest importance and the time is ripe. Oh, what an awakening there will be when the truths of God, which the Master is communicating through you, shall come to the knowledge and consciousness of mankind.

I am your brother in Christ and a fellow worker and so I will say with all my love and best wishes,

Goodnight,
Josephus

St. Peter Writes That He is Going to Help James With His Soul Development

August 8, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Saint Peter.

I want to tell you that you are very near the Father tonight and that His Love is filling your soul to a great degree. I see that you are anxious to learn of the spiritual things of the Father and of His Love towards you and all mankind. You must pray for more faith and trust implicitly in His promises, and in the promises of the Master, for they will be fulfilled and you will not be disappointed or left to yourself.

I am with you quite often now, for I want to assist in the great work that Master has chosen you to do; and you must get into a condition that will enable you to do this work in the greatest perfection. Your soul must be developed with this Divine Love of the Father, so that you will be in accord with the Master when he writes, for unless there is such accord you will not be able to get the spiritual meanings of his messages as he wants you to do.

There is nothing that will cause this development as well as earnest, sincere prayer to the Father. With such prayer will come faith, and with faith will come the Substance of what you may now only believe. So pray often, believing that the Love of the Father will come to you, and you will realize your oneness with Him.

I am so much interested in you and your soul development that I am going to help you with all my love and power. Let not the things of the world detract your attention from these spiritual necessities, and you will find that all these material things will be supplied you.

Be firm and courageous in your beliefs and professings and God will be with you in every time of trial and distress. This I know and tell you as one having knowledge. I want you to let your faith increase until doubt shall flee away, and only trust in the Love and goodness of God remain with you. I will not write more tonight. So with all my love and blessings I am

Your own friend and brother in Christ,
St. Peter

John Garner, a former Christian Preacher of England, Writes That the Great Gift of God's Divine Love is for All of His Children

August 8, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here to tell you that God is love and that all mankind are His children and the object of His bounty and care. Not even the vilest sinner is beyond the boundaries of His care and love.

He is not a God, who needs propitiation or sacrifice, but calls to all His children to come unto Him and partake freely of the great feast of Love which he has prepared for them and enjoy the happiness which His presence gives.

So my friend, do not for a moment think that the doors of mercy or the entrance into the delights of His heavenly home is closed by the death of the body, for I tell you that the death of the body is a mere entrance into a higher life with increased opportunities. But notwithstanding what I say, the soul that seeks to obtain this Love while on earth has a great advantage in time over the one that waits until his spirit leaves the body before seeking for the Father's Love.

The best time for mortals to aspire to attaining this Great Gift is the now, and no time is so propitious. God's Love is for the mortal even if he has the passions and appetites which the flesh encumbers him with, and when a mortal fights against the temptations, which these burdens impose and overcomes, he, when he enters the spirit world, is stronger and more able to progress, than when he puts off the great attempt until he becomes purely spirit.

So, while there is no such condition as probation terminated when the mortal enters the spirit world, yet, the probation on earth is the accepted time to seek the Great Prize. I know I am writing like some of your camp meeting preachers, but what I say is a truth nevertheless and happy is the mortal who realizes this fact and acts in accordance.

Jesus is working among mortals now as he did when on earth, and although they cannot see his physical form or hear his voice of love in tones of benediction and pleading, yet, the influence of his love is felt and the persuasion of his spirit voice is heard in the hearts of men. He is still the saviour of men as he was on earth, and his mission will not cease until the closing of the Celestial Kingdom and sin and error shall be eradicated from earth and from the spirit world. He will be the triumphor and conqueror over sin and everything that tends to pervert man from that which is good and righteous.

Man, having only his natural love, will be freed from all inharmony and live as brothers and friends in peace and happiness; and spirits having the Divine Love, become as angels of God, and live forever in the bliss of the Celestial Heavens. So I urge upon all men to seek the Divine Love of the Father and live in His presence forever.

I must stop now, but before I go let me say that I am working with the Master in the great cause that will make men who seek this Love, one with the Father.

So I will say as your brother in Christ,

Goodnight,
John Garner.

I was a Christian preacher of England in the time of the Reformation.

George Whitefield, a Former Preacher of England, Changed His Beliefs, Receives Divine Love and Resides in the Celestial Spheres

August 8, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, George Whitefield.

I was a preacher of England and a contemporary of John Wesley. I am in the Celestial Spheres where are only those who have received the New Birth that has been written about by other and more ancient spirits.

I merely want to say that I am still a follower of Jesus, but a little different in my knowledge of what he was and is. I do not now look upon him as God, or a part of God, but as His true son, and the greatest of all the spirits in the spirit world. There are none to be compared to him in beauty or spirituality or in his knowledge of God's truths.

I used to preach to thousands about his vicarious atonement and his blood sacrifice, but now I see his mission in a different light. it is not his death on the cross that saves men from their sins, nor his sacrifice that appeases the wrath of an angry God, but his life and teachings of the Divine Love bestowed on mankind and the way to obtain that Love that saves men from their sins. There was no need to appease the wrath of an angry God for there was no angry God, only a Loving and Merciful God; and when men think that unless they turn from their sins, they will be forever burned in a fiery hell, they are the dupes of preachers, such as I was and will never get the Love of the Father by such teachings.

God is Love, and men must know it - and His Love is for all of every race and clime.

I see now what a great mistake I made in my conception of God and of Christ's mission on earth, and how much harm I did to mortals in my preaching and how I slandered the Father of Love. But I was honest in my beliefs and taught as I thought the truth to be, yet, that does not alter the fact that many a mortal after he became a spirit was retarded for a long time in his spiritual progress, because of these false beliefs, which in order to progress he had to give up and start anew in his efforts to find the truths of God.

And as I worked hard and preached eloquently to make mortals believe these injurious doctrines while on earth, so now I am working hard and preaching eloquently to make spirits who come over with these beliefs, unlearn them and see the truth as it is.

I am in sympathy with the movement which the Master is now making to spread the truth of these spiritual things on earth and am ready to follow him in all his efforts to bring about the salvation of men not only from sin but from erroneous beliefs.

So I come to you to-night to express my sympathy and interest in the cause. Let your work proceed and do your best to make known to men the great truths, which the Master shall teach. We will all join in the work and do everything in our power to speed the great cause of men's redemption from sin and ignorance.

The man must have the soul development by obtaining the Divine Love, because you cannot inspire a man to preach grand and sublime spiritual truths unless he has the capacity in his own soul to feel and understand the truths.

I will not write longer tonight.

I am your true friend,
George Whitefield

St. Augustine Writes About That the Bible is Not to be Relied Upon and is Not the True Teachings of Jesus

August 7, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Augustine.

I merely want to say that I am the St. Augustine who lived after the death of Jesus and was well acquainted with his teachings as they were preserved by the Church. At that time I never knew exactly what became of the manuscripts that were in existence when I lived, but the ones that are supposed to furnish the origin of many of the Biblical writings were not the ones that I was acquainted with. Those that I used were all written in Greek and were written by the disciples of Jesus, and by those of his followers to whom the disciples had communicated the teachings of the Master; and they were the genuine ones and were written from the actual communications of the disciples.

Of course, the teachings of Jesus were never recorded at the time of his teachings, but were merely the recollections possessed by the disciples of what they thought he really said and, consequently, as you may realize, they were imperfect and could not be relied on implicitly.

I know that great controversies have arisen in the church as to what portions of these writings should be accepted as genuine, and many needless disputes have caused the officials of that church to differ as to what were really the writings of the disciples, and what were not. I, when on earth, joined in these disputes and maintained that certain of these writings were genuine and certain were not, but I was as likely to be mistaken as any of the others.

But even the ones that I thought genuine were more or less flavored by the spiritual knowledge and beliefs of those who wrote them. So I tell you that you cannot depend on these writings as a whole to learn what the Master actually did teach.

He is now in condition to give you the genuine truths, and whenever what he may say conflicts with what is contained in the Bible, you must consider what he now writes as the truth and discard the Bible account as unreliable. I tell you this, because I am interested in having the world learn the truths which he came on earth to declare.

I am a spirit of the Celestial Spheres and am a follower of the Master, and am trying to help in having these truths come to the world again. I did not always believe, as I do now in many particulars, and my comments on the Bible should not always be taken as correct. So if you will pardon my intrusion I will repeat, pay attention to what Jesus may say now and do not let the Bible statements, which do not agree with what he may write you, disturb you or cause you to doubt what you may receive.

Sometime I shall come and give you my ideas of some of these spiritual truths and how necessary it is that men should know them. I certainly believe in the New Birth, and I want most emphatically to say that it is one of the most important truths of the spiritual world. It has not heretofore been very often understood, and its exact meaning is somewhat in doubt by even the best students of the Bible.

I will not write more tonight, but will say that you are my brother in the good work of showing to mankind the truths that are so important to their future happiness and salvation. So with a love that is in Christ,

I am your brother,
St. Augustine

Saul of the Old Testament Writes That He Was Once a Wicked Man But Became a Redeemed Spirit and Resides in the Celestial Kingdom

August 7, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

Saul of the Old Testament.

I am the same Saul that called up Samuel, or rather who caused the woman of Endor to do so. I was a wicked man in those days and knew not the love of God, and very little of my fellow mortals. I was a cruel man and a worker of iniquity, and violated God's laws in many ways. As you have read, I came to the end of my resources and went to consult Samuel as the last resort. I did not know that God had abandoned me until Samuel had told me.

Yes, He did and was my protector as long as I obeyed Him and did what was right in His sight. I know that He did, because when I obeyed Him, I was successful and happy. I only knew from what the prophets told me, and they claimed to have communications with God in some way. I believed this and, hence, thought that God was protecting me.

I am a redeemed spirit now and am happy in the Love of the Father. I became a lover of the Father and an inhabitant of His Kingdom long after Jesus proclaimed the Great Truth of Divine Love restored. Before that I was a spirit who lived in the happiness which I experienced in developing my soul and becoming a good spirit, free from sin and error, but this happiness is not that which I now enjoy.

I want to confirm what Samuel said as to the woman of Endor. She was not a witch or evil woman, but was a medium and received communications from the higher spirits of the spirit world. She had been abused for centuries and should not be further thought of as a wicked woman.

I will not write more tonight.

Well, do you suppose that we of the spirit world stand still in our mental advancement? I know all the important languages of the earth and can write them and understand them. Do not think that spirits do not learn here just as they learned as mortals. The only difference is that they can learn so much more rapidly and can retain their knowledge more easily than mortals can.

So I will say goodnight.

Your brother in Christ,
Saul

Ann Rollins Writes About the Previous Spirits Who Testified and How Important it Was for James to Know He is Doing the Work of Jesus

August 6, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your Grandmother.

Well, my dear son, I have been waiting to come for some time, but as you have had so many spirits from various spheres and so different in personality write to you I thought it best to refrain from writing and let them send their communications. I have been much interested in these writings because mostly all of them have testified as to the fact that Jesus writes to you and wants you to do his work and also as to the truth of our statements concerning the Divine Love and the New Birth.

We have felt that this great variety of witnesses would help to convince you of the truths, which we have written and in the future will help very much to convince those who may read our messages. So you see our personal sacrifices have been repaid by the host of witnesses that have appeared and written.

I am so glad that your faith is now so strong and it will grow stronger and you will realize that Jesus is your true friend and is interested in you in many ways. He seems to love you very much and is with you when you little suppose he is. Yes, all the messages that you get in his name are from him, no matter how personal they may appear to be, for as I said, he is interested in you in a way that causes him to care for you in your material affairs. You must believe and you will be benefited and made happier by such belief.

I am very happy and so are your mother and Helen. We are very close to one another and are with one another very much. Helen is a thankful spirit and is with you so very often, loving and trying to comfort you. I will stop now.

Well, he (Ingersoll) is thinking a great deal of what Mr. Riddle and I told him. He is a man, or rather spirit, with much capacity for loving and receiving love and, as soon as he opens up his heart to the inflowing of the Divine Love, he will receive it abundantly. Of course, his course of thinking while on earth will retard his progress and until he changes these ideas, he will not make much progress in his soul development, but I think that he is open minded and honest and will soon see that what we tell him as true is a truth. We will try to help him in every way possible.

Yes, the contrast in our appearances made an impression on him and has caused him to do much thinking. When Mr. Riddle told him the cause, he seemed to be astonished and listened to me when I told him of the higher things with great attention and interest.

Well my dear boy, I must say goodnight.

Your loving Grandmother

Professor Joseph H. Salyards Writes That He is Pleased With the Variety of Messages From Higher Spirits and Reveals He is Now in the Seventh Sphere

August 6, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your old Professor.

I wish to write a little tonight as I have not written for some time. Well, I have been watching the many messages which you have received and I have been much interested in the variety of the subject matter and the number and difference in the spirits who have written.

You seem to have received messages from spirits of all ages and from all nationalities and I am pleased to see that these messages were mostly of a higher order of communication. I was interested in the messages from the prophets and also those from the apostles and saints. And in them I saw that there were many spiritual truths disclosed and that they were very similar in their declarations as to the Divine Love of the Father and the New Birth. It is wonderful that you should get such corroboration of these truths from spirits who have had such a wide difference in experiences in the spirit world.

You are better tonight than you have been for sometime and we are all so glad of that fact and hope that you may continue in such a frame of mind and in the condition of your soul development.

I am now in the Seventh Sphere and am very happy. Your father is with me and we are so pleased at our progress that we never cease thanking God for His goodness and mercy. Mr. Riddle is still in the Fifth Sphere, but we expect that he will be in the Seventh very soon and we will then have a happy reunion.

My soulmate is with me and sends her love to you and says that she is much interested in you and tries all she knows how to help you in your material, as well as your spiritual, condition.

Very soon I want to write a long message on a subject that I think will be of much interest to you and to others who are interested in the things of the spirit life. I know that that will please all the band as we have missed writing to you and desire so much to continue our communications. Of course, the messages that you have received have been very beneficial and are intended to do good but, yet, we feel that we had stayed away, I mean refrained from writing for too long a time.

Well, I have been trying to help him (Roller) but his condition is such that I find great difficulty in doing so. He still thinks of the earthly matters and his appetite for the accursed stuff still clings to him and causes him to neglect the thoughts that would do him so much good. But we continue to try to help him.

Well, I will stop for tonight. With all my love, I am

Your old Professor and friend in Christ,
Joseph H. Salyards

Robert Ingersoll Writes That He Knows Nothing About Divine Love, But is Willing to Learn the Truth

August 5, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Robert G. Ingersoll.

I am a spirit who when on earth taught men that the only salvation required for them was good deeds and kind hearts, and that the Bible, outside of its moral precepts, was not worthy of belief, that many of its sayings were untrue, and that all of its teachings as to belief and faith were not worthy of consideration.

I was perfectly sincere in what I taught and thought and, hence, I don't feel that I was guilty of any very great sin, although I have now changed some of my beliefs, or better, thoughts. I did not believe that Jesus ever really lived, as was set forth in the Bible, and I certainly did not believe in a vicarious atonement, or any salvation through blood or propitiation of an angry God. Neither did I believe in any New Birth or in any of the doctrines of St. John having reference to a soul being redeemed; but believed that every man's future state, should there be a future state, depended upon his deeds of love and mercy towards his fellow man.

I believed that God was not to be worshiped or consulted, neither would He, nor could He, save a man from anything that might tend to make him unhappy; but that man's love for one another was the great thing that would determine his condition in the future life, should such life exist.

I did not deny that there would be a future life. I merely didn't know anything about it and, hence, all my teachings were directed to making men live on earth in a way that would bring to them happiness while mortals. And my foundation stone, as it were, was love, one towards another. And with this went love, kindness and forgiveness and good feeling and fair dealing. Especially did I emphasize the necessity for love at home.

I am still of the opinion that these qualities, if possessed and expressed in action, will make men happier, make the world better, and finally do away with evil and distress.

I now see, though, that there is a future life and that men who would enjoy the greatest happiness in this future life must not only have this love and kindness for one another, but must also seek the Love of God, and believe that God is a Father of Love and believe that He is interested in the soul of each individual man.

I am in the Fourth Sphere and have much happiness in my intellectual pursuits and in my love of my fellow man, and am trying to help them get the best out of life on earth. I do not yet believe in the teachings of those parts of the Bible which, in effect, say that you must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be saved, for I do not believe that any mere belief will save a man from anything. I know that many here believe that Jesus is the saviour of men, as taught by the orthodox churches, but I think that such spirits are as much mistaken as were those who believed the same doctrine when on earth.

I consider myself as saved. I have not found any hell as taught by the churches, although each man has to pay the penalties for his evil deeds done on earth, and many men are suffering here since they became spirits. I will confess that I was somewhat surprised to see that spirits who did not live correct lives on earth are suffering very serious tortures; but this I suppose is the effect of the law that demands a penalty for every violation of its command.

But I do not understand that this suffering will have to continue forever, or that the state of these men is fixed. Progression is the law of the spirit world, and I cannot conceive that any spirit will remain the same through all eternity. To me, the great satisfaction is that there is no orthodox hell and no devil to punish the wicked. I am myself not entirely satisfied that the condition of those who suffer from their evil deeds may not last a long time, as I am told that many of these spirits have been in a condition of suffering for a long time.

Well, I am satisfied with the condition that I am in, and in the possibility of progression, and I need not the teachings of the spirits who profess to have knowledge of a higher love that brings happiness of a kind that enables them to enjoy supreme bliss. Such spirits, I believe, are those who had the old ideas of the churches, against which I taught. I was not compelled to undergo such suffering when I came into the spirit world or to endure much darkness; but I suppose there were some deeds which I had to pay the penalties for and, hence, I had to suffer some. But as my love for all mankind was my principle and feeling when on earth, this love gives me a position which I now enjoy.

I could write much longer, but I will not do so tonight, and will come again sometime and explain some of the laws of the spirit world.

I am Robert G. Ingersoll and was called an infidel.

Well, my friend, that is a very astounding proposition, and you must be either a very ignorant man or a very self-conceited one to make such a statement. Well, as to the last statement, you are right. I have an open mind and am willing to learn any truth that may be presented to me in such a way as to convince me that it is a truth. You are stating things of which I have no knowledge, and which I do not believe to be true. I have thought a great deal of God and believe in a God, but as to this Divine Love, I have never heard of it nor ever thought of it.

I know of no love but the love for man, and that means spirit for spirit, and a certain love of God for man. But as to a Love that makes one partake of divinity, I have never heard. And as to the New Birth that you speak of, I don't believe in it any more than I did on earth. To me it seems foolishness. What is there about me or any other spirit to be Born Again? You might probably say that when I left my body and became a spirit I was born again, and in a sense that is true, but when you tell me that I must be Born Again and that by such birth I will become a partaker of divinity, I cannot believe what you say or understand what you mean.

Well, you state your proposition very fairly and very clearly, and I must say that I am impressed with what you say, and it might be that you are right. At any rate, I will keep an open mind and will stand ready to hear any argument from you or any spirit that you have mentioned; and if they can show me the truth of your propositions, I will not hesitate to embrace them. I want to learn everything possible, and as I was an honest inquirer on earth, I will be an honest one here. You make your assertions very strong and you seem to be in earnest in what you say, and for those reasons I must listen to you.

Yes, I knew Riddle very well, and he was a believer somewhat like myself. I have not met him since I have become a spirit, but would like to do so.

I will keep in mind what you say and will observe any difference in beauty that may exist, because if such be a fact there must be some cause for it, and that cause I shall endeavor to understand. I have done as you suggested and I see Riddle, but hardly recognize him, as he is so changed and is so much more beautiful than I conceived of. He has shaken my hand and introduced me to the others. And what beautiful spirits they are! The one who, he says, is your grandmother is glorious in her beauty and brightness and love seems to be a part of her very being. How I thank you for the experience! I am going with Riddle, who says that he has a wonderful truth to tell me and that I will become convinced of its reality.

So, my friend, I thank you for our conversation and if you desire, I will come again and tell you of the result of our interview - I mean between Riddle and myself. I have made the request of your grandmother and she says that she will be pleased to tell me of this Love that you speak of. But let me tell you this before I stop; that what you said about the difference in beauty and brightness of the spirits is true, and that I am as a dark night compared to the noonday sun in my appearance compared with theirs.

I am so glad I came to you tonight. So my dear friend, I will say goodbye for a little while.

Your friend,
Robert G. Ingersoll

* * * * * * * * * *

Helen Confirms that Robert Ingersoll Will Soon See the Truth

August 5, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Helen.

Yes, they were and Ingersoll is now with Mr. Riddle and your grandmother. He seems much inspired with your grandmother and listens to her with great interest. I believe that he will soon see the truth and will seek for this Divine Love and New Birth. So with all my love. I am,

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Lazarus Writes That He Followed Jesus' Teachings on Earth and He and His Sisters Live in the Celestial Heavens

August 5, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Lazarus .

I was the one whom Jesus called from the grave. I merely want to say that I was not dead when I was resurrected but had on me the sleep of death. But I was not entirely a spirit separated from my body. I know this, because if I had been a wholly separated spirit, Jesus could not have brought me to life again. No spirit, once entirely liberated from the body, can ever return to it and reanimate the body. I know the Bible says or the inference from what it says, is that I was dead, but this is not true as I have above stated.

I am now in the Celestial Heavens in a sphere that is not numbered, but very near those in which the disciples live. My sisters are also in the Celestial Heavens. We all believed in the teachings of the Master and, consequently, became imbued with his doctrine of the necessity for the Divine Love to come into our souls.

While on earth Jesus did teach us that God had again bestowed on man this Divine Love and we believed it. I know that the disciples were taught this same doctrine, but just how far they understood this teaching I do not know. It is strange and they did not declare it in their Gospels, but such seems to be the fact, and it is unaccountable why this important truth was not preserved and taught in their writings.

I know that it is the truth and that only those who have received this Love in their hearts can become inhabitants of the Celestial Heavens. Men may refuse to believe this Great Truth if they will, and think that by attending church and worshipping God in their service with their lips, they will be able to enter the Kingdom but they will find themselves mistaken. So in your teachings, let this great truth be the cornerstone of whatever you may teach. I am supremely happy and want all mankind to be so.

I came to you to inform you of these truths so that my testimony may be added to that of those who may have written to you. Jesus is in the spiritual world working to teach men and spirits his truths. He comes to you and writes and you must believe the fact for it is a fact.

I must stop now, so I will say goodnight.
Lazarus

Robert Colyer, a former Preacher, Writes That He Believes in Divine Love and the New Birth and That Jesus is Not God

August 5, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Colyer.

I was a preacher. I am now a preacher and my doctrines are those of Christ stripped of the creeds and dogmas of the churches. I was not an orthodox preacher, but was one who believed in God and in Jesus as the best and most spiritual man that ever lived on earth, and who taught the truths of his Father.

I am of the same belief still, and I have since being in the spirit world learned many things to confirm my belief. The orthodox doctrine as to his being God or one of three Gods is a pernicious one and against all reason and truth. He is just who he said he was - the son of God and the son of man - the first in a spiritual sense and the latter in the material or natural sense.

He never, as he has told me, claimed to be God, and his disciples never understood that he was such. The freedom of men's minds, from this doctrine of his being God, will do more to bring men to the truth and to believe in religious truths than can be conceived of. When his true mission on earth shall become understood, men will turn to the true worship of God and to a belief in the teachings of the Master, which will result in many a one being saved from their sins and in happiness and harmony and brotherly love being more firmly established on earth.

I am a believer in the Divine Love and the New Birth and am an inhabitant of the Seventh Sphere and am trying to progress to the Celestial Spheres.

I will not write more tonight as you are tired, but will come again sometime. So with all my love as a brother in Christ,

I am,
Robert Colyer

Samuel the Prophet Writes that Mankind Must Seek for Divine Love in Order to Obtain Supreme Bliss

August 5, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am Samuel the Prophet.

I want to tell you that I am in a condition to tell you of my existence here in the spirit world, and what I know about the truths of the doctrines of Jesus as I have learned them since I became possessed of the Divine Love, which he brought to earth and to the world of spirits.

I have lived a great many years in this spirit life, more than you may think from the account of my earth life as contained in the Old Testament, for that book does not state correctly the time when I lived as a mortal. Many thousand years have gone by since I lived and performed my work as prophet and teacher on the earth, and I have in all these long years learned many things about the spiritual world, and its conditions and laws.

In the first place, I am not a spirit who was given over to the evils that men are usually possessed of when they become spirits, because when I lived on earth I was very close to the Father in His thoughts and love. I mean the love which He gave to man at that time. This love, while not the Divine Love, yet, was a love that was sufficient to make men happy when they possessed it free from sin and error and tried to do the Will of the Father as they understood that Will. Many men thought that they understood this Will, when in reality they only knew that which the laws of Moses taught them to be right in the sight of God. But some men were given a deeper insight into the mind and love of the Father to bless and make men happy in their natural love and, consequently, were closer to Him and better understood His Will and what was pleasing to Him.

I have since my becoming a spirit learned many truths, which I did not understand on earth, and which are necessary to know in order to be able to enjoy this love in its fullness. I never, though, possessed this Divine Love until after Jesus came to earth and showed men and spirits what this Love meant and how necessary it was to obtain it in order to become a part of God's Divinity.

I do not now see that I was any more in favor of God, as I then possessed only this natural love, than were many others who had the privilege of receiving from His Angels the inspirations, which came to them at times, and which made them able to tell the inhabitants of earth what was the purpose of God to have them do. I was only a man in the sense that I was only possessed of this natural love and, hence, could get no higher in the spiritual world than this natural love would enable me to attain.

I am now in a Heaven, which this Divine Love has opened up to me, and which enables me to enjoy the great happiness which that Love causes all to have who possess it.

When I lived in the spirit world before obtaining this Divine Love, I was only possessed of that happiness which comes from the natural love, and I knew nothing of the happiness which I now possess. So you see, the spirit which has not this Divine Love can go no higher in the spiritual spheres than it is fitted to occupy by reason of this natural love, and the principal source of happiness is this natural love and the development of the mental faculties. On earth it is possible for a man to obtain this happiness and live in the Heaven of the perfect natural man, as I did prior to my obtaining this Divine Love.

I was a spirit in the highest of the spiritual spheres and was very happy, as I thought, but when I obtained this Divine Love, I realized that the happiness of my former condition was as nothing compared to that of my present condition and I, therefore, want to tell all mankind that they must seek for this higher Love if they wish to obtain a bliss that is supreme.

I know that this rambling talk may not seem very instructive, but I merely wish to emphasize the fact that I lived a mere man, though in the spirit form, before I obtained the Divine Love, and that only with the coming of that Love in my soul did I partake of the Divinity of the Father.

Well, they are still in the spiritual heavens because they have not yet embraced the Christ doctrine of Divine Love. They are living and teaching the doctrines that they taught on earth, only much improved.

I don't know, except that they have been satisfied with what they taught and the happiness that they live in. It may seem strange to you that they have not found this Love in all these years, but it is a fact, and they are not seeking for it. I feel that they have neglected a great opportunity and have lost very much by letting all these years go by without having sought the great truth.

The different teachers of the various religions which have come to earth are occupying planes in the spiritual heavens all to themselves. They, the Jews, still think that theirs is the only true religion, and that they are the chosen people of God, and that all others are mistaken in their doctrines.

Well, I must stop. So thanking you for your kindness, I will say goodnight.

Samuel

Jesus Writes That God's Truths Are Easy to Understand and Are For Everyone

August 3, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

My truths are plain and my teachings can be understood by the simple. Any religion, which requires the exercise of the mental faculties to an extent greater than what is required in the ordinary affairs of life, cannot be a true religion; because God has designed that all His children shall understand His truths without the necessity of having a highly developed mind.

He that runs may understand my teachings and it will not be necessary for any preacher or teacher to explain them. My language will explain itself. So let not your mind be troubled over the question as to whether only the mentally developed can understand what I may write - the truths are for all.

So with all my love I am,

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

John Brown Writes That He Gave His Life for the Freedom of Slaves and is Still Fighting for Truth and Liberty for All Mankind

August 1, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, John Brown.

I was the man who gave his life for the freedom of the slaves and the purification of the nation. So I come to you as a spirit who in the long years since my death has seen the principles for which I fought and died established in the laws of my country and the principles of freedom and political equality made a part of the economy of your land.

I am now a spirit fighting still for truth and liberty, but now my fight is for the liberty of all mankind from the slavery, which sin and the greed of men impose upon their fellow men. No man has the right, because of superiority in position or greatness in wealth, to make his fellow man a slave or keep him from enjoying the God-given things of earth. Of course, some men must rule and some must possess the greater riches, but these facts do not justify the ruling ones or the wealthy in treating the subordinate or the poor in a way to make them unhappy, or to prevent them from receiving their just dues in the working of the affairs of their relationship of employer and employee or of governor and governed.

Right is right, and no machinations of men will not much longer make the poor and dependent a slave to the rich and independent. Men are awakening to their rights and to the object of their creation by a just God who is no respecter of persons; and soon men will come into their own and peace will reign on earth. I am not what is called a socialist, but a lover of mankind without regard to environments or opportunities. Let the rich treat the poor as brothers, and let the laws be administered for all alike.

Religion is a mighty power in the world, and as men come to see that the golden rule of the Master is the only one that should govern their actions, one towards the other, peace and prosperity and happiness will come to the inhabitants of the earth.

What I say is not a mere dream of an enthusiast, but is the result of what I see will follow the workings of the great spiritual forces, which are now combined and working for the salvation of men as never before in the history of the world.

And in this great work, love will be the mainstay of the principles that will activate men in their dealings with one another, and when this love shall flow to men with all its fullness and irresistible force, as will do, men will realize a new existence, and the brotherhood of men will become a thing of reality. So I say, let men prepare themselves for this great inflowing of love, for its coming and will sweep away the evils and trifles that now are influencing the great crime of the centuries. I mean the great barbarous and inexcusable war that is now devastating the whole of Europe.

Men may think that the end of the war will see a peace that, because of the horrors and great losses and depletion of men and means, will last for many years, but if peace should depend upon these causes, war would rear its ugly head again before many generations have passed. While the war shall end, the causes of the war will only slumber, and when new generations come, and the ambition and desire for aggrandizement and power shall again work their evil influences upon the hearts and minds of the rulers of the new generations, war will come again.

But we hope, and are working to that end, that the love of one for another and the great feeling and realization of the brotherhood of man will so fill the souls of men that those things which cause wars will entirely disappear, and peace will become the lasting condition of both individuals and nations. Liberty and freedom are the great possessions of men even as they are now possessed, with all these feelings of envy and hatred and ambition, but peace and love are the greatest things in all the world, and when men learn this, war will never rear its ugly head again.

I must stop now.

I am living in the Fourth Sphere and am comparatively happy, and am much interested in any country's welfare and in the welfare of humanity the world over. I am a worshiper of God and am trying to follow His precepts as I learned them on earth. I am not the possessor of what you call the Divine Love but I have a love for my fellow men which enables me to try to help them in every way in my power.

I never have troubled myself about the Love that you speak of. I know that there are spirits who live in higher spheres than I do, and they seem more beautiful than do I, but I have never sought the reason or troubled myself with knowing why. But as you put the proposition I will talk to some of these spirits and ask them about this Love that you speak of.

So I thank you for the opportunity of writing my sentiments on the subject that is so dear to me now, and was when I was on earth. With all my love I will say,

Goodnight,
John Brown

Otto Von Bismarck Writes About the War's Outcome and Disagrees with Lafayette's Position

August 1, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Bismarck.

Let me say a word. I saw what Lafayette wrote and I don't agree with him on either proposition.

The German Emperor did not bring on this war as the Frenchman said, but it was forced on him. He saw that not only France but England was trying to destroy the great mercantile business which Germany had built up, and that unless he took some means to forestall the efforts of these nations, Germany would lose its commercial prestige and have to submit to the dictates of these rivals; and as a wise Emperor and statesman, he struck the first blow - sharp and quick - and had it not been for the Belgians, he would have reached Paris and accomplished his object.

But that little nation of lacemakers, as we called them, showed that when home was invaded they could fight, and fight they did; and notwithstanding the fact that I am a German, whose sympathies and desires are all with the Germans, yet, I admired the way in which these Belgians fought. Had France such fighters, the Germans would have been out of that country along time ago, and the German territory would now be invaded. But this is past and Germany is still in France and will stay there, notwithstanding the efforts that France and England may make to oust them.

The end of the war is not yet and before that end comes, Paris will fall and the terms of peace will be dictated by the victorious Germans; and France will lose some territory, and England will pay an indemnity and make such concessions to Germany that her commerce will be established and grow to such an extent that she will be second to none as a commercial nation.

Germany will not cease to be an empire - a stronger and greater one than ever. William will not live long after the war ends, but one of his sons will occupy the throne and his family will reign for years. It will not become a republic, although I know the socialists will make a great effort to bring that about; but they will fail.

So I tell you that the French spirit is mistaken and he will find out his mistake before a great many months have gone by. I don't know what causes he imagines he sees, but if he would see the true causes he would draw different conclusions as I do.

I am Bismarck and I am with the German Army trying to show its generals the way to accomplish their objects. I must not write more. I live in the Second Sphere and am trying to find happiness, but this war interferes with my happiness and my progress.

Well, I saw you writing, and I saw Washington and Lafayette engaged in writing and I stopped to listen and became interested in both the writing and the subject matter, and when Lafayette wrote as he did, I determined to give my views and, hence, I wrote.

You must excuse my intrusion, but I thought it just to express what I think about the war. I will not take up more of your time. So with my kind regards, I am

Your friend,
Bismarck

Lafayette Writes About His Impression of the On-Going European War

August 1, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Lafayette.

I am the Frenchman who was a lover of liberty and a soldier of both your country and mine, and who was an aide to your great general and father of his country - I mean Washington. I came because I want to tell you that in the great war that is now going on I am interested and want to express my opinion as to its causes and its ending.

France was not desirous of this war and had made no preparations to struggle against the Germans and had no idea that the Germans would so soon seek to overrun her territory; as Germany professed the greatest friendship for her; but as you know, the German Emperor, without warning and without excuse hurled his legions into poor Belgium in his endeavor to reach the French capital and possess it before the French nation could make any effective resistance. The Kaiser was anxious to acquire more territory belonging to France for purposes of colonization and thought that the task would be an easy one.

He had no conception that he would have any difficulty in passing through Belgium, neither did he contemplate that England and Russia would join with France in opposing his onslaught. In fact, he thought that he would so quickly succeed in capturing Paris and obtaining what he desired that these other nations would not have time to take any part in the conflict.

But as you know, little Belgium checked his advance and held him at bay until England was enabled to take such action as embarrassed him to such an extent that he has never yet succeeded in gaining the object of his desires, and let me say, he never will. I will not further review this phase of the matter. In the end Germany will be defeated and her Kaiser will be killed and his family disappear from the face of the earth as a ruling family. Germany will become in a few years after the war a republic, but its territory will be much reduced.

Before the war ends, the allies will invade Germany, and Berlin will become invested by them and they will dictate their own terms of capitalism, and these terms will be such that Germany as a great nation will cease to exist and will take her place among the republics of the earth as a secondary state and devote herself to the industries which her natural resources and the capacity of her people will entitle her to. She will never become a great maritime nation but will be content to exist as a manufacturing and agricultural country. Her people will migrate in large numbers and become swallowed up in the other nations of the world, especially in the South American countries. France will again thrive and so will her allies, and little Belgium will be taken care of and become an important manufacturing country with a people much improved in their intellectual acquirements.

I say all this, not because I am a Frenchman, but because I can see that these results must flow from causes, which now exist and which will continue to exist until the results that I speak of come about. But the sad thing is that before these results come many a human will become a spirit and many a happy family will be broken up and poverty and distress cause much suffering. But such is war and such a war never was.

So my friend, I thought that I would write to you tonight and express my views. I will not take up more of your time. I live in the Sixth Sphere and have a home of much beauty and many friends in whom I find much happiness and entertainment.

I sometime see him (Washington) but not so often as formerly. He is living in a sphere higher than where I live and I don't often see him. Our attractions have not continued as you might suppose, and where this attraction does not exist, spirits do not often come in contact with one another.

I never thought of that view of the matter, and the next time I meet him I will make the inquiry. I know that he is a more beautiful spirit than I am and more beautiful than when he lived close to me in a lower sphere. I have never thought to ask the reason for his improvement but will do so as you suggest.

I sometimes see Napoleon and talk with him and more often since this war began. He is interested as I am but he does not seem to think that it will last very long, as he sees a reason why the allies will soon overrun the German empire and bring the war to a close.

I cannot write more.

Your friend,
Lafayette

George Washington Writes About Divine Love and the Brotherhood of Men

August 1, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, George Washington.

I was the first President of the United States.

I came to tell you that I am a spirit who is now a follower of the Master and that I have found the Love of God and am an inhabitant of the First Celestial Sphere, where my home is one of happiness and love.

I am not so much interested in the affairs of earth as I once was, and I do not attempt to influence the men who are at the head of public affairs as I did a few years ago. Now I see that the things of the earth are only temporary and need not the oversight of spirits who have advanced to the higher spheres and, consequently, I don't at this time take an interest in such matters.

But I am interested in the individual souls of men and in their spiritual welfare and I am doing what I can to help them develop their soul qualities. So when you read that I am advising the rulers of the nation, or others who have to do with the making of its laws or the execution of them, you must conclude that such messages are not from me or in any manner suggested by me.

I am now interested in men as individuals because that welfare exists through all eternity and not for time only, as does the welfare of the nation. Of course, as men become possessed of the higher soul development - the condition and excellence of the nation will be benefited and increased, and men's happiness, both individually and in the aggregate, will be much increased and will make them more at-one with the Father, and as a consequence, the brotherhood of man will be more effective in working good. But the brotherhood of man is not the great object for which men should work or preach.

First, let each man receive in his heart this Divine Love of the Father, and then the true principles which should exist in the brotherhood of man will find their existence and men - not only as individuals but as brothers - will find that they will be happier and devote themselves to serving one another and to causing the greatest good to the greatest numbers. No mere philanthropical desires of men will bring about the great millenium that men look forward to in organizing and fostering what they call the brotherhood of men.

Of course, men should endeavor to love one another even if they do not have this Divine Love in their souls, but such love will not be sufficient to form a brotherhood that will last and grow under all circumstances. Men's desires are not naturally of the kind that unite them together in one great object, and where their material interests or love of power or ambition to extend their territorial or commercial interests come in conflict with this natural love for one another the natural love must succumb and, as a result, war will ensue and hatred and envy and the desire to overcome one another will take the place of love and brotherhood. Only when men shall get this Divine Love in their hearts will they be able to overcome these natural desires.

So I say, the great and only preachment is the obtaining of a brotherhood of man founded upon the Divine Love existing in the individual souls. Without this, the brotherhood will be founded on sinking sand and no stability will make it a thing of lasting existence.

I have written enough for my first attempt.

As to the present terrible war, I do not see that it had any excuse much less justification, and the results that will follow are beyond the conception of the wisest statesmen. I do not know how or when it will end, but to me it seems that the allies must prevail, and the Germans and Austrians be compelled to submit to the dictates of their antagonists. But ere that time comes, many a man will become a spirit, and many an orphan and widow will be made to hunger and suffer the pangs of distress.

Let men fight if they will, but the truths of the Father will always continue to stand and call for men to recognize and embrace them.

So my friend, I must stop. Thanking you for your kindness, I will say goodnight.

Your brother in Christ,
George Washington

Nicodemus Writes That the New Birth is the Inflowing of God's Divine Love into the Soul

July 30, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

A master in Israel and, yet, I did not understand this New Birth. How few understood it then, and how few now. Oh, the long years that have gone by since Jesus told me that I must be Born Again to inherit eternal life, and how comparatively seldom this great truth is taught by the churches and the teachers of religious matters.

This truth is at the very foundation of mankind's redemption, and until a man receives this New Birth, he cannot possibly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Men may claim to have faith in God and believe on Jesus' name and conform to all the essentials and sacraments of the churches and yet, unless they have this New Birth, their faith and works as Christians are vain. This I know from my own experience as well as from the teachings of the Master, and I desire to emphasize, with all the powers that I have, that it is the only important requirement to immortality.

The New Birth means the flowing into the soul of a man the Divine Love of the Father, so that that man becomes, as it were, a part of the Father in His Divinity and Immortality.

When this truth comes to a man, he commences to take on himself the Divine Nature of the Father, and all that part of him that may be called the natural nature commences to leave him, and as the Divine Love continues to grow and fill his soul, the natural love and affections for things of the earth will disappear, and as a result he will become at-one with the Father and immortal.

Why don't those who profess to be teachers of Jesus' truths - which are the truths of the Father - and all followers of him, pay more attention to this vital truth?

When you shall have received the messages from the Master, I think you will find this Truth of the New Birth to be the one thing that Jesus will emphasize and reiterate most. It is the most important thing for men not only to hear about and acquiesce in their intellectual beliefs, but also to actually experience. I wish that I had understood it when on earth as I do now.

He meant as no man could see the wind or tell from whence it came or whither it was going, so no man who received this New Birth could see the operations of the Holy Spirit or know whence it came. But this latter expression must be modified, because we all know it comes from the Father; but just how we do not know. The Holy Spirit is as invisible as the wind and, yet, it is just as real and existing.

But men need not trouble their intellects to know exactly what this Great Power is for it is sufficient to know: that which causes the New Birth is the Divine Love of the Father coming into the souls of men.

I must stop as I have written enough for tonight. So let me subscribe myself a brother who has received the New Birth and a lover and follower of the Master.

Nicodemus

George W. Harvey Writes That He Now Sees Changes in Mackey and Taggart and Asks James for Help

July 22, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, George W. Harvey.

Wait a while until I say something. I want to tell you that Mackey and Taggart have changed so much, that I wonder why they have and I have not.

They tell me that it is because they have received the Love of God in their souls and faith in what the beautiful spirits of your band tell them.

I hardly know what to think and I want to ask what you think is the cause. I am a doubting Thomas. Well, I have heard what you said and I will try to do as you say. I will do so. And I want to express to you my gratitude for the interest you have taken in me.

Your friend,
George W. Harvey

Hugh T. Taggart Writes That He is Grateful for the Advice James' Gave to Him and He's Receiving God's Love and Progressing Out of Darkness

July 22, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington D.C.

I am here, too - Hugh Taggart:

As Mackey said, I am grateful for what you have done for me, and the great light that has come to me by reason of your advice, and the teachings and help of your band, and especially the deep sympathy and sisterly love of that beautiful wife of yours. Why, Padgett, I want to tell you that the most fortunate things of my whole existence were my acquaintance with you and the wonderful results that flowed from it. I sometimes wonder how all of this could have come about.

When on earth, while I knew that you believed in spiritualism, yet, I never realized what your belief and experience meant to you, and what a great help it would be to me when the time came for me to become a spirit.

I will never forget our first argument after I became a spirit on this great question of how I might be rescued from my awful condition of suffering and darkness, and with what earnestness you maintained the position that you took and tried to show me that there was a way by which I could get light and happiness and relief from my torments. Mackey and I often talk about it, and we wonder that you could have had such knowledge of these spiritual matters and such faith to maintain the truth of their existence. But you were right and your faith was not misplaced.

Old friend, I thank you again, and God bless you!

I am now in a condition of light and suffer very little and realize to a great extent that there is such a thing as the Love of the Father, and that it may be mine. I pray and my faith is becoming stronger all the time. The great proof to me, aside from what I see in the condition of other spirits who claim to have this Love, is my own change in soul happiness and in desire to progress to the higher spheres, which your band tells me exists and that I may find my home there if I will only pray more to the Father and let my faith enlarge.

To me this Love and faith is a new revelation. Of course, when on earth I heard of God's Love and of faith, but to me they meant nothing more than the rhapsodies of the enthusiastic religionists, whose emotions had overcome their normal reasoning powers - a will o' the wisp - as it were.

But now I know the reality of these things and I find that the emotions are in things pertaining to the soul more certain leaders than are the reasoning faculties. I am quite happy at times, and I hope to make such progress in my soul development as to be happy all the time.

You are my true friend and I love you as a brother now.

Well, they are still in darkness, but have progressed some little. The great disappointment which Harvey experienced when he came over seems to have such a baleful influence on him, that it is almost impossible at this time for him to reach out and try to grasp the truth of the existence of this Love. But we are trying to help him, and he is commencing to wonder at our improved appearance and to think that maybe we know what we tell him to be the cause of the change.

Mac is still in darkness, and it seems hard for him to awaken to the fact that there can be any other condition that he may have. He is very hard to reason with and does not seem to have much desire to have his condition change.

Well, I will not write more tonight. I saw some spirits writing to you but did not know them, except Jesus. I know him and I could never forget him for there are none like him in grandeur and beauty and love.

So my dear friend, let me again express my gratitude and say with all my heart, that I am

Your grateful,
Hugh T. Taggart

Franklin Mackey, James' Old Friend and a Former Lawyer, Writes a Short Note of Thanks for Helping Him Out of Darkness

July 22, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Franklin H. Mackey.

I must write just a line to tell you that you are my friend and helper in my darkness and sufferings.

I have been much benefited by your advice and the help which your band has given me and I am commencing to see the light and to know what the Love of the Father means to a poor benighted soul who has been in a state of torment.

I will not write longer but say that I am so grateful and will never forget your kindness and sympathy.

May God bless you and keep you in His care.

Your old friend and brother lawyer that was,
Franklin H. Mackey

Anabalixis, Ruler on the Lost Continent of Atlantis, Writes a Short Note; Helen Confirms the Messages of Ancient Spirits

July 22, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Anabalixis.

I lived on the lost continent of Atlantis. I was a ruler of the people who lived on this submerged continent and I come to tell you of its history, but your wife says that you are too tired to write more tonight. I will come again some time and tell you the wonders of that unfortunate land.

So goodnight.
Anabalixis

* * * * *

Helen Confirms the Messages by Ancient Spirits

July 22, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Helen.

Well, you have had some wonderful communications tonight and I know that you are somewhat mystified and have some doubts as to the genuineness of the writers, but they were the spirits who wrote the communications and they said that they are just who they represented themselves to be.

The last two looked like very ancient spirits and had wonderful intelligent countenances. But they are not spirits of light and love which the Divine Love gives to spirits. I suppose that they live in some of the planes of the Sixth Sphere.

You must not write more. So with all my love,

I am your own true and loving,
Helen

Anaxylabis, Designer of the Great Pyramid of Gizeh, Writes That He Learned English Quickly So He Could Share His Testimony

July 22, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Anaxylabis.

Let me tell you about the Great Pyramid of Gizeh. I want to do so in detail, as I was its designer, and I built it under the direction of the great Egyptian king, Monyabasis the Great, who lived many centuries ago, before Rameses, who is credited with its construction. I know that mankind has no records which tell of the reign of this monarch, but such records did exist, and in them was contained the history and the description of the occasion which called for the building of this great pyramid.

These records were destroyed long before the present extant histories of the world were written - long before the Book of the Dead was written and long before any of the present kingdoms of the earth had their beginnings. Centuries and centuries have passed since that time and no man has knowledge of what was then the condition of the human race or, as I should say, speaking for myself, of the race that inhabited the region of what you call the Lower Nile. We were a race of a great intelligence, and of what you would now describe as a wonderful civilization. Many of our arts and sciences disappeared from earth and have never been rediscovered, and may never be, for that race no longer has communication with the present race.

I came tonight because I saw pass me by wonderful spirits of light and beauty, evidently bent on some great mission, and I followed them and found myself with you. Listening to the communications which they gave you, I found that there came to me a desire to write, also.

Well, as I listened, I soon saw that the communications were written in a language different from my own, and that you understood only that language and that I must write in that language to make myself understood. So I commenced at once to learn it and I learned it in the short space of time that I listened to them in their communications. This may seem impossible to you, but I can read the thoughts of spirits and men without difficulty, and as all thoughts in the spirit world require no language such as you understand, I soon found that I could clothe my thoughts in your words as I am doing now.

Well, I know it may not be very satisfactory to you, but it is true, and I cannot more clearly explain it so that you may comprehend it. Well, I have diverged or digressed from my intention of telling you what the design of the Great Pyramid was, and I find that I have written too long to attempt it now, as this is my first effort at writing. So I will postpone it until later, but I will come and give you the explanation.

I don't know in years, but when the Egyptian Book of the Dead was written, I had lived as a spirit many thousands of years.

I must stop now and say goodnight.
Anaxylabis

Jesus Writes That He Called for His Disciples, Apostles and the Saints to Write Through James

July 22, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

I am here to tell you that you have had a cloud of witnesses as to your being selected to do my work, and you have wondered why so many of my disciples and apostles and those called saints should come to you in such close succession and all testify as to that one fact.

Well, I caused them to come as I wished to establish your faith as to my being the true Jesus of the Bible, and as to your mission in regard to my work.

So now let all doubt leave you, and let your faith grow until you will never hesitate to believe, no matter what surprising communication may come to you.

I am glad that you are feeling better tonight, and if you will only believe in my promises, you will have cause to feel very much better in the near future. I do not intend to write more tonight, but soon will give you another message.

Yes, they were the persons they represented themselves to be. We will not permit any imposters to write. Yes, that is true they were actually the old prophets, and they were much interested in your ability to write. They will come again. I must stop now. Goodnight.

Your loving brother and friend,
Jesus

St. George, a Warrior on Earth for the Cause, is a Celestial Spirit and is Interested in James' Work for Jesus

July 22, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. George (of the Dragon).

I was a warrior, and not a saint. I was an enthusiast in the cause of the Christians against the Turks, and I fought and suffered and died; but as to my being a saint, I never was one more than was any other warrior who was stirred by the great cause which urged us to rescue the Holy Land from the infidels.

But, while I was never a saint, yet I was of a religious turn of mind and spiritual things appealed to my higher nature, and at times my soul felt the influence of the workings of the spirit world.

But I was never a real possessor of the Father's Love as I now am. Since my coming into the spirit world, I have received this Great Love, and am now a follower of the Master in my belief in his teachings, and in my efforts to work for the good of humanity.

I now know what the Divine Love of the Father means, and how the possession of it fills the soul with happiness and immortality. I live in the Celestial Spheres and am a member of the Kingdom of Jesus.

So, I merely came to add one more testimony to the fact that through you the Master is working to save mankind from their sins and to extend his Kingdom of Love and happiness to all parts of the earth.

I will not write more now. So I will say goodnight.

Your brother in the Cause,
St. George

St. Chrysostom, Called Saint John and Archbishop of Constantinople, is a Follower of Jesus and a Celestial Spirit

July 22, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Chrysostom.

I come because I want to tell you that you have entered upon a work that will bring much happiness to mankind and much glory to the cause of the Master.

When alive, I was a teacher of the truths of the Master and lived a great many years among a people who believed with their intellects, but who knew very little of the soul religion. I, myself, was not a great believer in the truths having reference to the soul's development, but I taught those truths which appealed more to my intellect, and which were of a character suited more to instill merely moral principles than to cause men to receive and understand the real spirit and real meaning of these teachings. But yet such teachings accomplished some good among the people of those times. I was a great student of the Bible, as it was then written, and my studies enabled me to teach and explain these truths in an intellectual way.

It seems strange to me now, but it is a fact, that I never understood the inner depths of these truths, and when I came to die, I had not the consolation of knowing that the Divine Love was the great desideratum in order for men to become at-one with the Father and to become a partaker of His Divinity.

I learned these great soul truths after I became a spirit, and met those spirits who had received this Great Love, and showed by their wonderful appearances and happiness that they possessed it. So you see that while I was sainted for what I was supposed to have done for the good of the church and for mankind, I was not a saint at all, but a very great sinner without the essentials to make me a saint.

Many a saint of the church was, when on earth, anything but a saint, and the church in making such person a saint only does what a nation may do in making its prominent warriors and statesmen heroes in marble or bronze. We, who were saints of the church only as we were believers in the Christ, but we were not saints as to the perfection of our soul condition.

In my time on earth, I sought to correct abuses in conduct among those people who outwardly, as clergymen, were carrying on the work of Jesus, yet, in character, were lax in obtaining from modes of conduct which were contrary to the laws of God as proclaimed in the writings of Moses and preached by the Master.

So no church can make a man a saint by merely declaring and recognizing him as such. On earth the sins and evil deeds of men may be hidden by the glamour which the church casts over and around them, but in the spirit world these sins and blemishes appear in all the nakedness which the glare of the noonday sun may develop.

Character cannot be hidden and defects cannot be hidden, and unless the soul of a spirit is pure and spotless, it will have to occupy that place and take that station which its soul development determines are suited for it. So how futile are all these canonizing and worshippings of men as saints when there is nothing of the saint about them. The poorest peasant may be more of a saint in the spirit world, than the greatest and most exalted saint according to the creation of the churches.

I do not remember if Vespasian was a Christian at the time, but he is a Christian now and an inhabitant of the Father's Kingdom. So you must not let the doubts that you may have about his writing to you cause you to disbelieve what he said. I saw him write and I know it was he, and no other.

With the love of a brother, I will say goodnight.

Your brother and friend, Chrysostom,
Called Saint John A.D. 347-407
Archbishop of Constantinople

Vespasian, the Roman Emperor who Conquered Jerusalem, Writes That He is Interested in James' Work and is a Redeemed Spirit Who Lives in the Celestial Spheres

July 22, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I was a spirit who, when on earth, was known as the man who conquered and destroyed Jerusalem. I am Vespasian, the Roman Emperor.

I became a Christian even before my death, but I never was more than a Christian in name. I knew nothing of the true doctrines of Christianity, or of the Love which the early Christians professed to possess, as such Love was taught by Jesus. My espousing Christianity was a matter of political expediency and was not the result of any fixed faith in the truths of that religion.

But since I became a spirit I have become a true Christian, and am now a follower of and believe in the truths of the Master. I live in the Celestial Spheres and am a redeemed spirit and have the happiness which such condition ensures. You must not think that because I was once Emperor of the great Roman nation that, therefore, I am a person of more importance than are those who were of less importance on earth. That fact does not enter into the determination of what place I shall occupy in the Celestial Spheres. Only the soul's development determines that question.

But I am a high spirit, nevertheless, and I want to tell you that I am interested in your work among men and the unfortunate spirits. So believe me when I tell you that I am in sympathy with your work and will aid you to the best of my ability.

I know that you have your doubts as to my writing to you, and I can hardly blame you for it is not natural to suppose that the spirit of one who passed over such a long time ago would have the interest in you or in humanity to cause him to come to the earth sphere again and attempt to write to you or to help mortals. But it is a fact, nevertheless, and you must believe me.

Well, we do not stand still in our spirit life, and we have learned many languages since we became spirits and knowing sometime ago that mortals would be called upon to do the work of assisting in the redemption of men, we have prepared ourselves so that we can understand and write most of the languages of earth. But in the case of the English language, we saw that the greatest number of mediums come from the race speaking that language and, hence, we paid particular attention to the learning of the English tongue.

We can learn so much more readily the various languages since we became spirits, and men must not think that spirits do not progress in their knowledge of nearly every kind of learning. I am not now the one-sided person that I was on earth - the whole universe is open to me to learn whatever it contains, and I have studied with great interest and assiduity ever since I became a spirit.

Well, I must stop, but will come again and tell you of many things that my studies have brought to my knowledge. So with the best and kindest of feelings, I am,

Your brother in Christ,
Vespasian, The Roman Emperor