Luke Writes on What the Celestial Spirits Think of The War

February 27, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Luke.

I heard the doctor ask, what do the Celestial Spirits think of this war, and I will in a few words tell him.

Well, first he must know that the Celestial Spirits are not so much interested in the war, and the success or defeat of nations, as in the salvation of the souls of the individuals who compose those nations; and the fact that the individual is a German or an Englishman or a Frenchman has no influence upon the desire of the spirit to help the soul of the individual. All are alike important and dear to the Celestial Spirits; and the same Love that will save the one, will save the other. So you can see that the war is not of so much importance.

Of course, many mortals are made spirits who are all unfitted for the life in the spirit world, and in that view, the war is of importance to the Celestial Spirits, as their opportunity for doing work among mortals, either directly or through other spirits, is by such slaughter interfered with. And the spirits who come so suddenly to our spirit world are subjected to greater suffering, and are more difficult to impress and teach the way to truth and life, than they would have been if allowed to live their ordinary mortal lives.

All wars, to some extent, interfere with the orderly living and dying of mortals, and we deplore them, but as to the right or the wrong of wars, we do not judge, but leave that to the conscience and judgment of the individuals who bring about the wars and are responsible for them. The acts of individuals, whether they apply personally, or affect others in the way of being members of nations, are all subject and responsible to the laws which control the thoughts and deeds of mortals, and the recollections of the same; and these laws do not call for or demand the paying the penalties of the individuals as parts of a nation, but as individuals, irrespective of the fact that they belong to and control the affairs of a nation.

No sin is of less interest to spirits because it arose from the wars of nations, than if it had arisen from the act of the individual as such, and we Celestial Spirits are interested in the war that is now going on, and because of that fact; for I say, it causes the paying of the penalties demanded by the law much sooner than it otherwise would. And we are interested also, because war creates hatred and desire for vengeance on the part of those engaged in them and, hence, adds to the burdens that the individual so affected will have to get rid of when he comes to the spirit world in order to progress and find happiness.

War to us is an incident of human existence, and the right or wrong of it does not enter into our consideration of what should be the penalties that those who are responsible for it should suffer. The soul of each individual shows its own sins and wrong done, and only this condition of the soul determines the state of its possessor, and the destiny that its own thoughts and acts have made for it.

Now, from what I have said, you may suppose that we are indifferent to the happiness or misery of mortals while on earth, but that is not true. We realize that man, to a large extent, must work out his own destiny on earth, and that we spirits cannot control that work, except as we may influence the individual mind and thoughts of men; and that there are times when men give way to their passions and evil ambitions, in which we cannot influence them. Even God Himself does not attempt by His omnipotence to do so, but leaves men to the exercise of their own wills, and the consequences of their own acts; and this, although many suffer physically and mentally who are innocent.

But all men live not unto themselves, but are so united in society that the acts of one must have their influence on others and, hence, those who live in these societies are subject to these influences, and to the consequences that flow from them. It may not seem right that the innocent should suffer because of the acts of the guilty, and if the Celestial Spirits could prevent it, such sufferings would not take place; but they cannot so prevent the intermingling of suffering between and among those living in societies, for to do so, they would have to interfere with the operations of the laws controlling these things, which they cannot do. So you see, war does not mean to the high spirits what you might suppose; and while they have their sympathy and love for all the children of men in these terrible conflicts, yet, they must leave men to the consequences of their own deeds and thoughts, and man must do the suffering.

But, nevertheless, we do try to influence those who have the control and determination of these things, and our work is always to try to influence them to do that which will bring to men the greatest happiness.

We do not interest ourselves as to whether one belligerent nation or the other will win the battles, because we know that only men themselves can decide this matter; and we don't try to interfere to bring about the success of the one party or the other, as we know that we are powerless to bring about any result.

Think for a moment, and you will understand, that if we had the power to determine the issues of war, we should have the power to destroy sin and error, because both are the subjects of the creation and control of men; and I say that if we had such power, sin and error would long ago have disappeared from the world, and men made free.

No, we can work only with the individual; and as the individual soul is made pure and righteous, the aggregate of these individuals composing a nation will become pure and righteous, and war will become impossible.

I do not think it best to write more now, but will say, that we Celestial Spirits think of war as the creature of mortals, to be controlled and ended by mortals, and that we cannot decide the issue one way or the other; and, hence, to us war is an incident in the living and dying of mortals that we cannot prevent or create.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

St. Luke Writes Further on "It is hard to learn of Heavenly things in Hell"

January 8, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here St. Luke.

I want to write a few lines upon a subject that may be of interest to you both. You have remarked upon the expression obtained in the letter that you have just received that: "It is hard to learn of Heavenly things in Hell." It is a statement in a succinct way of a great truth and one, if it were known and fully appreciated by mortals, it would cause them to realize the necessity of thinking and learning of these Heavenly things while on earth.

I know that many say, they will not believe in the orthodox Hell, or in the necessity of troubling themselves about the future, or that they will take their chance in the hereafter, if there be one. If these persons could realize the meaning of such a course of life, they would not leave their future to chance, but would, while on earth, seek for these Heavenly things and make a start for the realization of these things now and not wait until they had left the form of flesh.

They say that a just God will not punish them by condemning them to eternal torment, and they are correct; and while this just God does not condemn them at all, yet they are condemned by a law that is just as invariable as is the Love of that God, and that law brings its certain punishment, even though it may not be eternal. But it is certain, and upon the spirit itself depends very largely its duration.

If the spirit finds itself in that condition that it cannot make a start towards its redemption until a long time after its coming into the spirit world, then that punishment will longer continue; and, if the start depends, as it does very frequently, upon the ability and capacity of the spirit to receive and understand those things that will start it upon its progress, then many spirits will remain for years and years in the condition in which they find themselves when they first come to their homes in the hells. There is nothing in these places to induce or help the understanding of these Heavenly things but, on the contrary, everything to prevent and obstruct such understanding; even hopelessness and beliefs in an eternity of punishment and, frequently, want of knowledge that there is any other or better place than where they find themselves.

And I want to say here, that within the spirit there is nothing that has the qualities or powers to start it on a progression, and in this sense, the old Bible expression, "That as a tree falleth, so shall it lie," is true. Even as to the natural love these spirits in the Hells cannot initiate a start towards high thoughts and beliefs, and only when some influence from without comes to them can they have an awakening of their dormant better and true natures, so that their progress may commence. I don't mean by this that it is necessary that some high and spiritual helper shall come to them, but only that some influence from outside of themselves must come in order for them to have an awakening. This influence may be from a spirit* in an apparently similar condition to their own, but which has received some glimpse of uplifting truth that it may convey to the dark brother spirit.

All spirits can help others who are in a lower or more stagnant condition than themselves, and sometimes they do; but the great trouble here is that unless the possibly helping spirits have some desire to benefit their fellow spirits of darkness, they do not try to help, and so as your friend says, "It is hard to learn of Heavenly things in Hell." He realizes that fact fully, and even with the help that has been offered and will be given him, he will find it difficult to make a start. The mortal life is not the only place of probation, but it is the most important place, and the easiest for man to make his start in and understand the beginning of these Heavenly things.

I will not write more now, but will soon come and write a formal message. So with my love to you and friend, I will say to you both: "Have faith and let not doubt come to you as to the Heavenly things that we have written you about." Good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

*Luke: And when I used the term spirit, I mean the soul clothed in a spiritual body.

Luke Writes that No Man Can Possibly Reach the Condition of Perfection Unless His Mental Beliefs Are in Accord With the Truth

January 4, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Luke.

I will write a few lines tonight on a subject that I desire to make known to you and others, for I know it will be of interest to all who may read it. The subject is the truth of the statement that: "No man can possibly reach the condition of perfection unless his mental beliefs become in accord with the truth."

This perfection, you will understand, is the perfection that man possessed before his fall; that is, the perfection of his creation.

It has been asserted by many, that the beliefs of a man do not count for much in determining his condition of soul and mind, and that only his acts and deeds and the qualities of his heart determine that condition; but this assertion I declare to be untrue, unless these acts and deeds and qualities of heart are the results of beliefs being in accord with the truth.

Belief is the mainspring of man's acts and the result of his thoughts; and "Thoughts are Things" that cause the realities of man's consciousness, and as he thinketh in his heart so is he. "Thinketh in his heart" means, or comprehends, the idea that the thoughts of his mind, which is the only part of man that has the powers or faculties for thinking, are suggested by, or flow from, the desires and appetites of the emotional part of man.

No thought originates itself, although it may seem to be a spontaneous creation, but is the result of some spiritual or physical perception; that is, of the perception of the spiritual qualities or of the sensuous organs of man's physical constitution. And belief is the result of thought and that agency which causes man's acts or want of acts and, hence, the only guide or way shown to man in the progress of the development of his soul in its natural love, or of the mind, to the state of perfection that I speak of.

Now belief does not create truth or change truth, for it is absolute and unchangeable; and truth does not create belief unless that truth is comprehended by the thoughts from which emanate the belief. So it is apparent that unless the belief, if erroneous, changes so that it becomes in accord with the truth, man, the possessor of the belief, can never get into a state of perfection, which can only exist when a man is in a complete condition of harmony with the truth. Belief being the effect of the operations of the mind, unless these operations are in harmony with the truth, the belief cannot possibly cause the development of the man who is possessed of and controlled by that belief into the perfect man, because every cause has an effect, and that effect must be, necessarily, only such as is the natural and inevitable result of that cause.

Out of untruth it is impossible for truth to emanate, and from the imperfect the perfect can never be constructed; and so it is impossible to develop a perfect love and mind out of an imperfect belief. The law that declares the effect of its operations to bring this result is invariable, and only by the observation of its requirements can the imperfect ever become the perfect. So, therefore, I assert that no man can ever become the perfect man unless his beliefs become in harmony with the truth. As a matter of fact, irrespective of reason established by my knowledge resulting from observation and experience in the spirit as well as in the mortal world, I declare the same to be a truth.

Then how important to man it is to seek for and obtain those beliefs that are in harmony with the truth in order to become as he was originally, the perfect man. This true belief may be found and acquired even by the mortal, and no man will be excused from the penalty of the great Law of Compensation by his plea that he did not think it very material what his beliefs were if he tried to do right in the world towards his fellow man.

But here, you will see that in addition to the fact that this great law accepts no excuse is the fact that man's acts and deeds proceed from his beliefs, whenever such are strong enough to control him; and when the beliefs are unformed, and man acts from emotion or impulse or desire only without the constraint of any belief, the result upon his progress to the perfect man is substantially the same, because this law, in order to escape the penalty for its violation, demands that beliefs, formed or unformed, or acts and deeds resulting from emotion or impulse, which are really beliefs without definite form, shall be in harmony with the truth.

The infidel who says he doesn't believe, the agnostic who says he doesn't know, the orthodox who believes, but whose belief is erroneous, and the free thinker who believes only what reason teaches him as he proclaims, if such beliefs are not in accord with the truth all come under the same penalty - that is, the impossibility of becoming the perfect man while such erroneous beliefs or want of true beliefs exist.

So I say, belief is a vital thing in the progress of a man towards perfection, and men should cease to declare and rest on the assurance of such declaration that it makes no difference what a man believes if he does what he may consider to be right and just.

Why, I, who know, tell you that the earth planes of the spirit world are crowded with the spirits of men who are in darkness and stagnation in their progress towards the perfect man solely from the causes that I have above written, and some men have been in that condition for many long years, and will not find progress except as such erroneous beliefs leave them and beliefs in accord with the truth take the place of the former. But for man and spirits, there is this consolation: that at some time, how long in the future I or no other spirit know, these erroneous beliefs will all be eradicated and man will again come into his original perfection. But the waiting may be long and distressing and wearisome to many.

I have written enough and in closing will say to all men: "Know and realize that the belief of a man is a vital and determining element in his progress to the perfect man." I am pleased to write you tonight, and will soon come again. Keep your faith and courage and you will realize the promises. Good night and God bless you.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

Luke Writes on the Subject: "What is the most important thing for men to do to bring about the Great Millennium?"

November 30, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Luke of the New Testament.

Yes, I desire to write tonight a few lines upon a subject that has never yet been written on, and I know it will interest you. My subject is: "What is the most important thing in all the world for men to do in order to bring about the great millennium that the preachers proclaim will come before or after the coming of Jesus?"

Of course, in stating the question, thus, I do no intend to be understood as consenting to the doctrine that Jesus will come to earth in physical form on the clouds with a great shout, etc., as many of the preachers teach for that event will never happen because, as we have written you before, he has already come to earth or rather to men in the spiritual way that we have explained.

Neither do I intend to embrace in the phrase, "the greatest thing," the Divine Love, for that, of course, is the greatest thing in all the earth and in the Heavens, as well; but by this expression, I mean the greatest thing that men can do - independently of the assistance of the Divine Love.

Well, as commonly understood, the millennium is a time or period of a thousand years when peace will reign on the earth, and the devil, as is said, will be bound and not permitted to roam over the earth causing sin and destruction of souls and sickness and the other sins that now so generally beset mortals. Of course, there is no personal devil in the sense of a Satanic majesty, but there are spirits of evil, which abound in the unseen world and are constantly with mortals exercising upon them their influence of evil and suggesting to them thoughts and desires that eventuate in sinful and wrong deeds. But these evil ones are merely the spirits of departed mortals and are not beings of a superior kind in power and qualities.

Sin, as we have told you, was never created by God, nor is it the product or emanations of any of God's perfect creations but is wholly the result of the wrongful exercise of man's appetites and will, when the desires of the flesh are permitted to overcome the desires of his spiritual nature. With sin comes all the evils and discords and inharmonies that constitute man's manner of living his earth life, and until these things, which are not a part of his original nature but which are the creation of the inversion of that nature, be eliminated from his thoughts and desires and appetites, the millennium will never be established on earth, and neither will Satan be bound in chains and prevented from doing his work of soul destruction.

Now the converse of this proposition is true. And the possibility of its occurring, is also true. And the question is: "How can this be brought about?" For to bring this about is "the most important thing for men to do."

When the cause of the present condition of mankind in sin and sorrow and unhappiness is definitely determined, then will readily appear what is necessary to remedy the condition and remove the cause; and, hence, when the remedy is applied and removal made, the millennium will surely come, for this glorious time of man's desired and looked for happiness is merely one in which peace rules and discord does not exist, and every man is his own brother's keeper in love.

Then what are the causes of the present condition of existence on earth, marred and tainted and controlled by sin and error and disease?

These causes are two-fold: The one arising from man's fall from his created perfection of body, mind and soul in permitting and encouraging the animal nature to subordinate the spiritual and thereby, by the over-indulgence of the former causing the carnal appetites to grow and transform the man into a lover of sin and things evil; and the other arising from the influences which the spirits of evil, who are always endeavoring to make close rapport with men and exercise their evil influence over him.

While the personal Satan does not exist, yet the idea conveyed by the necessity of binding him in order to bring about this millennium is a true one and applies to the actual relationship of men to these evil spirits, except this: That in the case of the latter, it is not necessary or even possible to bind them, but to loosen them; that is, to loosen their rapport with or influence over men, for when that is done, men become, as it were, free and these evil spirits are as if they were not.

So you see, as a preliminary to the ushering in of this greatly desired time of peace and purity, men must cease to believe that it will come with the coming of Jesus in a manifested physical way, as a mortal conqueror might come with legions of followers and noises of drums and by force of arms or greatness of power subdue his enemies. This will never be, for no man is an enemy of Jesus, but all are his brothers, and he is not now making and never will make war on any human being, only on the sin and defilement that is within his soul. And this war can never be waged by power or force of legions of angels, for so great is the power of man's will and so respected is its freedom of action by the Father, that there is no power in Heaven or earth that can or will change a sinful soul into a pure one by force and threats and conquering legions of angels, even though they might be led by Jesus, which will not happen. No, the soul is the man, and that soul can be made pure and sinless only when that soul desires and consents that such a condition may become its own.

So it should not be difficult for men to understand that this erroneous belief - that Jesus will come in this semblance of a human conqueror and establish this great time of peace - is doing them much harm and delaying the actual time of the coming of this event. The effect of this belief upon the soul is that everything is to be accomplished by the work of Jesus, and nothing by themselves, except to believe in his coming and wait and be ready to be snatched up in the clouds, and then help the hosts of Heaven to destroy all of their late fellow mortals who had not believed with them and put on the robes of ascension, as they literally or figuratively designate such robes.

They, thus, believe and in their minds they may be honest, yet their souls may be disfigured and tainted with sin and the life's accumulation of sin, so that they could not possibly be in condition to enjoy a place of purity and freedom from sin. And some of them expect and claim that they will be the judges of others of their fellow mortals, because of the deeds done in the body and, yet: "in how many cases would it prove to be the blind and sinful judging the blind and sinful?"

But they further claim that Jesus, by his great power, and the fact that they believed that he would come again to earth and establish his kingdom, will in the twinkling of an eye make them fit subjects for his kingdom, and qualified to judge the unrighteous and help cast them out of his kingdom. No, this can never be the way in which the millennium will be established, and the sooner men discard this belief and seek the truth and the true way to purity and perfection, the sooner the hope and expectation of mankind will be realized.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

Bishop John P. Newman Writes and Confirms Luke's Message About the Holy Spirit

November 5, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

Let me say just a word as I am very much interested in the truths of the message which Luke has just written you; and I was present at the church (Metropolitan Protestant Church, Washington D.C.) where the minister discoursed on the subject of Paradise, and Luke was also present. And as I realized that something that the preacher said suggested to Luke the subject of his message, and as I am very much interested in the people of that church, as I at one time was pastor there, I desire to add just a few words to what Luke has so truly and plainly expressed.

The doctrine that the preacher proclaimed tonight, I often declared when I was minister there and as I, at that time, believed those doctrines to be true and know the preacher is equally honest in his beliefs. But, alas, my beliefs were erroneous, and as it took some years of suffering and disappointment for me to unlearn these errors and learn the truth, so will he have to go through the same experience unless, before the time of his leaving the physical body, he learns the truth.

And so with many of his congregation who are earnest and honest seekers of the truth, many of them having in their souls the Divine Love of the Father. And the pity is that there is no way of reaching him or them with the truth, for I know that they would not give heed to what you might say to them and would look upon you as an imposter or crank.

But, nevertheless, in the future some way may open up that these truths may reach these people, and as I have their interests so at heart and feel that the influence of my teachings still linger in that congregation and produce only error and belief in that which is not true, I desire to add my confirmation to what Luke has said, and if his message ever reaches them, I hope my message may also come to them. It is part of my penalty for teaching erroneous doctrines that I should work to have my people unlearn their teachings of error and to be able to reach them in this way would give me not only great happiness, but relief from my penalty of regret.

I will not attempt to recite what Luke has said, for I could not make it plainer, but I do desire to say to my people that what he said is true and they must believe. Sometime I should like to come and write you a long message on a subject that has had the object of my consideration for a long time, and which to me and to many in the earth life is a very vital matter.

I will not write more tonight, and thank you for your kindness in letting me write. Well, I am in the Seventh Sphere and am very happy in my love and surroundings, but I realize that if I had known the truth as I now know it, I would be much further advanced. Oh, I tell you the hampering of the soul's progress by a lifetime of erroneous beliefs is a terrible thing. I will say good night and God bless you.

Your brother in Christ,
Bishop Newman

Luke Writes About the Mystery and the Truth of the Holy Spirit

November 5, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Luke.

I come tonight to write you a message upon the truth of: "What the Holy Spirit is."

I know that the orthodox generally believe and classify it as a part of the Godhead, being one with and the equal of God, the Father, and not merely a manifestation of the Father, as spirit and, hence, necessarily identical with the Father, though having a different and distinct personality. In this belief and in this classification is included Jesus having a distinct personality.

The orthodox preachers and theological writers teach that it is a fact that these three are one, co-equal and existing, and that fact is the great mystery of God, and that men should not endeavor to fathom the mystery, because the sacred things of God are His own, and it is not lawful for men to enter into these secrets. Well, this declaration and admonition are very wise as men's wisdom goes and saves the expounders of these doctrines of mystery from attempting to explain what they cannot explain, because it is impossible for them to unravel that which as a fact, has no existence.

Men of thought all down the ages have sought to understand this great mystery, as they called it, and have been unsuccessful, and as the early fathers met with the same defeat in their endeavors to understand the mystery and, then because of such defeat, declared the explanation of the doctrine to be a secret of God, not to be inquired into by men, so all these other investigators of the church when they became convinced of the futility of the search adopted the admonition of the old fathers that God's secret must not be inquired into, for it belonged to Him alone, and sinful man and the redeemed man also must respect God's secret.

And, thus, from the beginning of the established church, after the death of Jesus and his apostles, was declared this doctrine of the trinity - one in three and three in one, yet only one - and made the vital foundationstone of their visible church's existence. Of course, from time to time, there arose men, both in the church who, having more enlightenment than their brothers in the church, attempted to gainsay the truth of the doctrine and declared and maintained that there was only one God, the Father.

But they were in the minority, and not acting with the more powerful, their views were rejected; and the mystery became the church's sacred symbol of truth, unexplainable and therefore more certain and entitled to more credence. And it seems to be the tendency of men's minds, or at least of those who believe in the Bible as the inspired word of God, to welcome and encourage as the more wonderful and important and the more to be cherished those things which savor of the mysterious, rather than those which a man may read and understand as he runneth. (Habbakuk 2:2).

Nowhere, not even in the Bible is there any saying of Jesus to the effect that God is tripartite, consisting of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost; and, as a fact, never did Jesus when on earth teach any such doctrine, but only this: that the Father is God and the only God, and that he, Jesus, is his son and the first fruits of the resurrection from the dead, and that the Holy Ghost is God's messenger for conveying the Divine Love, and as such, the comforter.

I know that in some of the Gospels, as now contained in the Bible and adopted as canonical, it is said, in effect, that the Godhead consists of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost - these three are one - but such Gospels do not contain the truth in this respect and are not the same Gospels that were originally written. These original Gospels have been added to and taken from in the passing of the years and in the copying and the recopying that occurred before the adoption of the same.

They, the adopted ones, were compiled from many writings, and as the compilers in those early times differed in their opinions as men do now respecting religious truths, the more powerful of these having authority to declare what should be accepted, according to their interpretations of those manuscripts that were being copied, directed the copies to be made in accord with their ideas, and I may say, desires, and announced and put forth such productions to be true copies of the originals.

And as these copies were successively made the preceding ones were destroyed and, hence, the earliest existing manuscripts of these Gospels came into being many years after the originals from which they were claimed to be compiled were written and destroyed.

And I, Luke, who did write a gospel and who am acquainted with the present gospel ascribed to me, say that there are many vital things and declarations, that I never wrote and that are not true, contained in it; and many truths that I did write are not contained therein - and so with the other gospels.

In none of our Gospels did the mystery of the Godhead appear, and that for the reason that there was not and is not, and we did not teach that there was any Godhead, composed of three personalities. Only one God, the Father. Jesus was a son of man in the natural sense, and a son of God in the spiritual sense, but he was not God or a part of God in any sense except that he possessed the Divine Love of the Father, and in that sense was a part of His Essence. The Holy Spirit was not God, but merely His instrument - a Spirit - the Holy Spirit.

As you have been informed, the soul of man existed prior to man's creation in the flesh and was the only part of man that was made in the image of God. It existed in this pristine state without individuality, though having a personality, and resembled the Great Soul of the Almighty, which Soul is God Himself; though the soul that was given to man was not a part of the Great Soul, merely a likeness of it.

Some of you mortals have said that man's soul is a part of the "Oversoul," meaning the Soul of God, but this is not true, and if in any of our communications it has been said that the soul of man is a part of the Soul of God, and I mean while it existed before its incarnation, our saying must not be so interpreted. The ego of God as may be said, is the Soul, and from this Soul, emanates all the manifested attributes of God, such as power and wisdom and love - but not jealousy or wrath or hatred, as some of the writers of the Bible have said, for He possesses no such attributes. The ego of man is the soul, and in his created purity and perfection from his soul emanated all the manifested attributes belonging to him, such as power and love and wisdom; and neither were jealousy nor hatred nor wrath attributes of his before his fall.

It is said that man is composed of body, soul and spirit, and this is true. From your life's experience, you know what the body is, and I have told you what the soul is, and now the question arises, what is the spirit? I know that there have been for centuries great differences of opinion among theologians and other wise men as to what the spirit is; some contending that it and the soul are the same thing, and others, that the spirit is the real ego of man and the soul something of less quality and subordinate to the spirit, and others having other views, and all wrong. For as I have, said the soul is the ego, and everything else connected with man and forming a part at his creation when he was pronounced to be "very good," is subordinate to the soul, and only its instrumentality for manifesting itself.

As Jesus has told you, the spirit is the active energy of the soul and the instrumentality by which the soul manifests itself; and this definition applies to the spirit of man while a mortal as well as when he becomes an inhabitant of the spirit world. The spirit is inseparable from the soul, and has no function in the existence of man, except to make manifest the potentialities of the soul in its activities. Spirit is not life, but it may become an evidence of life - it is life's breath.

And as man was created in the image of his Maker - and as spirit is only the active energy of the soul, by the application of the principle of correspondences, which one of your former psychics declared to exist, it may be assumed and it is truth, that the Holy Spirit is the active energy of the Great Soul of the Father and, as we know from our experiences and observations, is used as the messenger of the Father to convey to mankind His Divine Love. And I do not mean to restrict the mission of the Holy Spirit to mankind in the flesh, for it also conveys and bestows this Great Love upon the souls of the Father's children who are spirits without the bodies of bone and flesh, and who are inhabitants of the spirit world. And so, it is a truth that the Holy Spirit is not God and no part of the Godhead, but merely His messenger of Truth and Love emanating from his Great Soul and bringing to man Love and Light and Happiness.

So you see there is no mystery of the Godhead, and no secret that God does not wish man to know and understand, and no truth that it is contrary to God's Laws and Will that man shall search for and possess. It is said that God is Spirit, and it is true; but spirit is not God, only one of his instruments used to work with mankind and the spirits of men. To worship the instrument is blasphemy, and only God alone must be worshiped. Jesus must not be worshiped as God, the Holy Spirit must not be so worshiped, and the sooner men learn this Truth and observe it, the sooner they will get in at-onement with the Father, and please the Master who, as some may not know, is the greatest worshiper of the Father in all his universe.

I have written longer than I expected, but I hope from my message many mortals may receive the truth, and believe that the Holy Spirit is not one of the Godhead, and that the mystery of the Godhead is a myth, without body, soul or spirit, and that there is no truth in all God's universe that man is not invited to search for and understand and possess.

I will now stop and in doing so will leave you my love and blessings, and will pray the Father to send the Holy Spirit to you with great abundance of the Divine Love. Good night and God bless you until I come again.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

St. Luke Writes a Short Note that He Did Not Write the Gospel or Acts as They are Now Contained in the Bible

July 25, 1916
Received by James Padgett.
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Luke.

I merely come to corroborate what Luther has written, as I am one of those who have set the causes in operation. You may believe what is said, and your realization will not be long postponed. I will not write more tonight.

I did not write the Gospel or the Acts, as they are now contained in the Bible. I wrote a Gospel and also a book called the Acts, but my writings were not preserved and in the copying and translating of them many things were eliminated and many things added. Of course, I cannot tell you now what these things are, but before our messages are finished you will know of many truths, which will explain this matter. I am really the Luke who wrote the Gospel and the Acts which were the supposed originals of what the Bible now contains.

So with my love and blessings I will say, good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

Luke Writes on the Subject: "What is the use in believing in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross as salvation from sin."

June 4, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Luke, writer of the third Gospel that was.

I desire tonight to write a short message on the question: "What is the use in believing in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross as a salvation from sin?"

I know that this belief is at the foundation of the so-called Christian religion and is the cornerstone of most of the churches as they now exist, but as such a belief is false and does not effectuate the object claimed for it, I must declare the utter uselessness of such a belief and the great harm it is doing to mankind.

A thing is just what its internal qualities make it. I mean by this, what the ingredients of its composition causes it to really be; and these ingredients cannot be supplied unless they have in themselves an existence of those qualities which are sufficient to make that composition just what is necessary and required to produce the thing in its genuine substance.

This applies to things of the soul, and unless the qualities of the soul are such as to eliminate the elements of sin and everything that prevents that soul from coming into harmony with the Laws of God, that soul will continue in sin and separation from the Divine Nature of the Father.

The soul is in each individual an entity, which is distinct and separate from the soul of every other man, and is dependent for its qualities, not in what that other man may do or not do, but upon that which will make those qualities like, or in substance the same as the qualities of that thing which is desired or sought for, as a necessary acquirement in making the substance of that possessed and that desired similar.

According to the belief of which I speak, the sacrifice mentioned causes the salvation of man by appeasing the wrath of God and lifting from man the condemnation under which he was suffering, and by accomplishing such an object, man became a new creature in his soul qualities and was given the qualities that are required to make him like unto the Father and, therefore, he has nothing further to be done for him in order to relieve him entirely from the possession of this sin and from the demands of God - the sacrifice is sufficient to bring about these results.

But as we have told you, and as even the followers or possessors of these beliefs assert, Love is the great necessity to effectuate the union between God and man, and this Love must dwell in the soul of man as well as in the bosom of the Father waiting its bestowal on man. It can be obtained only by sincere seeking on the part of man, and no other way is provided by which it can be obtained.

The sacrifice or the shedding of blood does not cause the inflowing of this Love into the souls of men, and the mere fact even if it were true that an angry God had been appeased, or debt paid, or a mortal is redeemed would not cause this Love to become a part of the souls of men.

I know that it is asserted that these things, in some mysterious way, reconciles God to man, and thereby causes the acceptance of man by God, and when that is done all the sins and depravity of a man's soul immediately become no longer a part of his soul's qualities, and the soul is perfected and its condition is that which enables it to become of a nature like that of the Father.

But a difficulty with this conclusion is that only Jesus and God are the ones that are participating in this great work of redemption, and man is eliminated from the necessity of doing anything, except to believe that the sacrifice is sufficient to cause his full salvation and all that it means.

How this belief that the sacrifice or the flowing of the blood can make a sinful soul pure, or become a partaker of the Divine Nature of the Father, has never been explained by the teachers of the Christian doctrines in any way that is consonant with reason and cannot be so explained, for the one reason that is of itself sufficient and, that is, that the sacrifice does not work such a consummation. No one man, not even Jesus, can do the work of another, or for another, that will produce the results necessary to insure the reconciliation mentioned.

It is claimed that Jesus died to save all men from their sins, or that he that believeth on the name of Jesus shall be saved from their sins. But the question again arises: "How? In what way can it be argued that his death made the impure man clean, even though he believed it did? Can his blood shed on Calvary cleanse the soul of any man?" I know that it is claimed that in some mysterious way it does, but no one explains the how.

Can anyone of the great theological teachers tell you by what mysterious or other process this blood operates on the Mercy or Love of God, so that the sinner is saved from his sins or from the penalties which the violation of God's Laws entail? I know that they cannot, and for the same reason as before stated, that the blood does not accomplish these results.

Then what is the use in accepting such belief when it cannot be understood or explained and is the blindest of blind beliefs of mortals?

No, no sacrifice of Jesus, no shedding of his blood, and no vicarious atonement as it is called, can save a human soul from sin, or bring it into the Love of the Father, or cause it to become a partaker of the Divine Nature.We have already, in previous messages, declared and explained to you what and what only brings to men salvation, and I will not here repeat, but will say this, that: "Except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven." Nothing less is sufficient and nothing added to can in any way bring about man's salvation.

I will not write more tonight, as what I have said should cause men to think and understand upon what false and baseless foundation they stand when they rely upon the belief in Jesus' sacrifice to save them from their sin.

With all my love and blessings I will say, good night.

Your brother in Christ.
Luke

Luke Writes on "The sins of the parents are visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generations."

April 9, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here. Luke.

I desire tonight to write for a short time on the text that, "The sins of the parents are visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generations."

I know that usually the explanation of the text has been that the material sins, or rather the sins which result in material injury or affliction. are visited upon the children and to a very great extent this is true. But that explanation is not what was intended by the declaration.

Man is not only a material or physical being, but is more largely a spiritual being, having a soul and spirit which never ceases to exist, and which are just as much a part of him while on earth, as when he becomes a spirit; that is after he has left the vestments of flesh and blood.

These real parts of man are of more importance to him and his real existence than is the physical part, and the sins which man commits are not the results of any primary physical action, but of the operations of the powers which form or have their real seat in the spiritual part of his being.

The physical part of man is not the originator of sin, but merely manifests its effects, and it (sin) almost always manifests itself on and in the physical body and leaves its scars apparent to the consciousness of men upon such body; and, hence, as man is able in his ordinary condition to perceive the effects more plainly on this body, he thinks that the meaning of the text must refer to the sins that affect and are shown upon his body, and at the same time ignores or is not sensible of the fact that the great effect or injury of sin is upon and to the spiritual part of man. As the physical body is affected by the results of these sins being carried into operation, so much more so is the spiritual part of man affected by the fact that these sins had their creation in that spiritual part of man.

It may be asked, "In what way can the effect of sin upon a man that is upon his soul and spirit, have any injurious effect upon the spirit and soul of his child, so that the child may suffer from the sin of the parent?"

Well, when a child is conceived and gestates and is born, he not only partakes of the physical nature of his parents, but also of the qualities and condition of the spirit and soul of the parents. This may seem improbable, but it is a fact that the spirit and soul that enters into the child when it is conceived comes from the great universe of soul and spirit, wholly independent of the parents and is not in its nature or qualities a part of the parents as is the flesh and blood which build up and produce the physical body of the child. But while this is true, it is also true that this spirit and soul of the child is susceptible to and in a way absorbs the influence of the spirit and soul of the parents, not only at the time of conception but also during the period of gestation, and even for years afterwards, and to such an extent that this influence continues beyond the mere earthly existence of the parents and into the life of the progeny to the third and fourth generation, as the text says.

The spirit part of the child is more susceptible to the influence and evil effects of these sins than is really its physical body, for as I have said, the spirit part is the originator and breeder of the sins, if I may so express it, while the body is merely the recipient of the exercise of the sins and the objects of their manifestation.

The influence of spirit upon spirit is more extensive and certain than mortals can possibly conceive of, and the results of that influence are not so apparent or known to the consciousness of the succeeding children, or to the respective parents, as men suppose, and as a fact they do not understand or become conscious of the fact that such influence is operating upon the spiritual parts of their children. They see and realize that the effects of such sins become manifested in the physical body, and as their ordinary natural senses cannot perceive the condition of the spirit, they conclude that the text can only mean that these sins are visited upon the material bodies of their children.

But I must tell them that, while great and deplorable injury is inflicted on these material bodies, yet greater and more lasting and more grievous - in the way of manifestations - injury is inflicted upon the spiritual nature of the children; not only because this nature continues to live, but because men, not realizing that this nature has been injured, make no attempt to find and apply a remedy as they so often do in the case where these sins manifest themselves in the physical body.

And besides, there are many sins that do not affect the mere material body, but which do great injury to the spiritual nature, and which to the senses of men are never perceptible.

A man is not only the parent of a child's material body but in a secondary way is also the parent of its spiritual nature, and the condition of the parent's spiritual nature influences and determines to a large extent the qualities and tendencies of the child's nature for good or evil, not only while it is a mortal but frequently after it has ceased to inhabit the veil of flesh. So let parents know that they do not live to themselves alone as mortals but that their evil thoughts and deeds have a greater or lesser influence upon the spiritual natures of their children, especially at the time of conception and during gestation. Then how important that every parent during these times particularly, and at all times, should have their spiritual natures in that condition of purity and freedom from sin, that their children may be conceived and born in a condition of soul purity, which will not reflect any evil that they can charge their parents with being the creators of.

If men would only realize these facts and live their lives in accordance with the truths, which I here declare, how much sooner would the human race be brought into harmony with God's Laws and the souls of men be freed from sin and evil.

I know it is often said that it is unjust and not in accordance with the justice of an impartial God that the sins and penalties arising from the disobedience of our first parents should be visited upon mankind who were and are their progeny, as such mankind had no part in that disobedience. But when it is remembered, and it is a fact, that God did not create sin or evil or impose such upon the first parents for their disobedience, but that they themselves created evil and sin, and men have been creating these in-harmonies ever since, it will be seen that an impartial God, who is our only God, is not responsible for either sin or evil and the consequent penalties which they impose. And, as has been written you before, the abolishing of sin and evil and their penalties is in the power of man and his will.

As these first parents created these evils, as I have explained, and in the manner that I have pointed out to you, their sins, by the influence which they have upon the spiritual nature at the time of conception and birth become, as it were, a visitation and that is the spiritual desires and tendencies and inclinations toward that which is evil (sic), and this influence continues with the child for years after its birth, according as the child and parents are closely associated together in their earth lives. And as each succeeding generation caused the visitation of its sinful influence and tendencies upon the succeeding generation, you can readily see how men, all men, became subject to the sins and evils and penalties which were brought into the world by the first parents.

Instead of God being the creator of these things or visiting them upon the children of man, He declares that their existence is contrary to the harmony of His creation and must be eradicated before man can come into that harmony and an at-onement with Him. And as He gave to man the great power of free will, without any restriction upon its exercise, except as a man's understanding of the harmony of the operations of God's Laws might influence him to exercise this great power; and as man in the wrong exercise of that power brought into existence these things of evil and sin, so man, as he perceives this plan of God's harmony, must exercise that will in such a way as to free himself from these things which are not part of God's creation, and are out of harmony with His plans for the creation and preservation of a perfect universe, of which man is its highest creation.

God never changes. His Laws never change. Only man has changed from the perfection of His creation; and man must change again before that perfection will again be his.

Now from all this it must not be inferred that man is left to his own efforts to bring about this great restoration, for that is not true, because God's instrumentalities are continuously at work influencing man to turn again to his first estate and become the perfect man, as he ultimately will become. I am not here referring to the workings of the great Divine Love which, when a man possesses in a sufficient degree, makes him more than the perfect man.

So, "the sins of the parents are visited upon the children to the third and fourth generation," means the tendencies and inclinations toward that which is evil (are created) not by God, but by man himself, solely and exclusively.

And oh man, could you see the results of these sins upon the spiritual natures of your children, as you often see them upon their material bodies, you would hesitate in your sinning and think, and thinking would see the way by which the great blot upon the happiness and salvation of humanity could be removed and its progress to the "perfect man" be hastened and assured.

Well, I have written enough for tonight, and hope that what I have said may be understood and meditated upon by all who may read it. I will not detain you longer, and with my love and the blessings of one who is now not only the perfect man, but a possessor of the Divine Nature of the Father and an inheritor of immortality, say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

**********

Luke makes some corrections in the previous message.

April 10, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington D.C.

I am here, Luke.

I desire to make some corrections in my message of last night and will thank you to receive them.

I desire to say, that when I spoke of the sins of the parents being visited upon the children at the time of conception and birth, I meant that these sins, by the influence which they have upon the spiritual nature of the child, became, as it were, a visitation. I did not mean that any part of the real sin of the parents became a part of the spiritual nature of the child, but only that the influence of the parent's sins upon the child is sufficient to give the spiritual desires and tendencies of the child an inclination towards that which is evil; and this influence is continuous with the child for years after its birth according as the child and parents are closely associated together in their earth lives.

Let this point be made plain so that man may not quibble about the meaning of what I wrote. Otherwise, the message is true and just as I intended it should convey to you the truth of the meaning of the text.

I will not delay you longer tonight, but with my love and blessings say,

I am your brother in Christ,
Luke

St. Luke Writes Further on the Development of the Soul in its Natural Love

February 16, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Luke.

Well do you think you can take my message tonight? It looks like you may. At any rate we will try.

As I was saying, "In what way is a man to obtain this development of the soul in its natural love?"

In the first place, he must recognize the fact that he does not live to himself, alone; that what he conceives to be the workings of his own mind and will are not always the result of thoughts and desires that originate in him, but are largely the products of the influences of the workings of the minds of spirits who are around him, trying to impress him with their desires and wills; and. consequently, you will understand that it is very important to man as to what kind of spirit influences he has surrounding and working upon him. If these influences are good, the better it is for his progress in the development of this natural love; but if they are evil influences then, of course, such development is retarded.

Consequently, the first thing for a man to do is to attempt to attract to himself influences of the higher nature; and he can do so by trying to cultivate good thoughts and to indulge in good and moral acts. The great Law of Attraction, that we have written about, applies and works in such cases as this, as it does in every other relation of God's universe. If a man's thoughts are evil, there will always be attracted to him spirits of similar thoughts; and when they come to him, they attempt to and succeed in intensifying these evil thoughts of his, which attract them to him.

It must emphatically be understood in this regard, that man may and often does originate his own thoughts and desires, and it is not necessary that any influence of these evil spirits should be present and operate upon his brain or affections, in order that these evil thoughts and desires should come into existence. And again, man has a will power that is susceptible of being exercised, free from the wills of these evil spirits; and you will see how true this is when you remember that he can exercise that will power, free and independent from the Will of God Himself. So I say that these thoughts and desires may and do originate in man, free and independent of the wills or influences of these evil spirits; and as a fact, these spirits are attracted to him only when these thoughts that he has originated are evil.

Now, if man would have this progress that I speak of, he should endeavor to have good and pure thoughts and desires, and then he will attract to him spirits who are good and pure, and their influences will help him to a wonderful degree in strengthening and increasing these thoughts, and make it less and less likely that evil thoughts will arise in his brain, or evil desires in his affections; and as a consequence, his will power will be exercised in doing those things which are good and moral. Now, while man may originate these thoughts and desires, he must also know as a truth that this progress is not dependent upon him alone, for when he is in that condition to attract the good spirits, they will invariably come to him and render their help; and it will prove to be a wonderful and never failing help.

Now, man's thoughts and desires are not always, as may be supposed, the result of something that may be hidden within himself, and of which he may not know its existence. I mean not in all cases, and probably in only a minority of cases; for most frequently are these thoughts and desires the children of an objective influence, that comes to him by reason of objects becoming sensible to his ordinary senses, which create or suggest these thoughts or desires.

Without going into details, you will understand what I mean, but as a mere illustration: a glass of whiskey may and does suggest to a man who likes whiskey, the thought and desire that he should take a drink, and thereby bring into operation his will, which is followed by the act of drinking. And so with many other objects which a man meets in the course of his daily life. But these thoughts and desires arise not only from seeing objects, but also from feeling and tasting them.

And again, these objective suggestions, causing these thoughts and desires, arise and exist not only from the real object sensed, but also from words and thoughts which are expressed by other human beings in course of conversations or in books and literature. And when they come in this way, they are frequently more effective than in any other and, hence, as these objective words and thoughts enter the mind of man, they create similar thoughts, which frequently intensify and attract the evil spirits of like thoughts, with their degenerating influences. Hence, the importance of a man avoiding companionship where such communications take place and the books and literature where these evil suggestions are made.

It has been well said that, "Evil communications corrupt good manners;" and I may add that such communications corrupt good thoughts and produce evil desires and retard the progress of the soul in its natural love. For it must be remembered that this love is pure and free from all evil or taint of defilement when it is fully developed and anything that tends to defile it retards the progression of the soul in this particular.

So the plain lesson to be drawn from all this is that man must, in the first place, make the effort to have only good and pure thoughts and desires from his inner self, and next, he must avoid those objects and associations that tend to cause to arise in him these evil thoughts, and thirdly, he must learn the truth that when he has these evil thoughts, he attracts to himself spirits of evil who, by their influence, can and do intensify these evil thoughts and desires.

I know as regards this last mentioned truth, that the majority of men have no knowledge of its existence; but it is time that they should learn that such a danger to their soul's progression does exist and is always imminent. And they should learn this other fact that when their thoughts are pure and free from defilement, they have surrounding them the influence of good spirits, who work to increase and make permanent their good thoughts; and as these good thoughts continue, the natural love develops towards its pristine condition of purity, and man comes nearer to his designed condition of existence.

So you will see from this, that as man's thoughts and desires become freed from these things that tend to defile him, he naturally progresses toward that condition which is necessary, in order for him to have this development of the soul in its natural love. Again, the development may be helped very much by man thinking and doing acts of charity and kindness and observing the Golden Rule; for every act of charity and kindness and self-sacrifice for the sake of others has its reflex action in his own condition of love and soul and helps their development.

In short, the observance by man of all the moral laws, which are many and varied, tends to bring about the development of the natural love. And this must be remembered, that as this development proceeds, the tendency to indulge in the perverted appetites of the flesh, as they are called, will disappear; and as it disappears, this love, of course, becomes purer and sweeter, and brings man nearer to his state of perfection.

And again, the meditation upon spiritual things, and the out-flowing of this love towards the Father will cause the progression for while all men, as we have said, do not seek for the Divine Love, yet as all men are children of God, he helps them to the full extent of their desires; towards happiness, and the perfecting of this love in its natural pure state and with which he endowed them at their creation. Upon their will and aspirations depends the nature of the help which the Father gives to them; but always He gives his help and blessings and to the fullest. His great desire is that man shall become perfect in that love which they possess and which they seek for; and the natural love in its qualities may become as perfect in man, as may the Divine Love in its qualities. Each is just as much in harmony with God's universe in its respective qualities as is the other.

So I say, man is helped, and more than in any other way, by his meditations of the higher things of his being, and by prayer and aspirations to the Father, who hears the prayers of the man who has only this natural love, and answers them just as He does the prayers of the man who has the Divine Love in his soul.

Ultimately all sin and evil will be eradicated from the universe, and man in his mere natural love will become pure and perfected and happy.

I have tried in my inefficient way to show man how he may progress in the development of his natural love, and if he will follow my advice, he will succeed. For as man, by the indulging of these perverted appetites of the flesh, and the exercise of his will power, fell to a low degree of degeneracy, so he can by ceasing to indulge in these perverted appetites, and the exercise of that same will power, rise again to his condition of purity in his natural love.

And besides, he has the help of the Father and the good angels in his efforts to recover, and also the experience of the result of his fall, which he may not be conscious of, but which in his inner self has an existence and is continually working.

Well my dear brother I must stop; and I feel that you have taken my message very successfully. Read it over and correct errors of construction. I will come soon and write again.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

Luke Writes About Truth of the Development of the Soul in its Natural Love Wherein the New Birth is Never Experienced

February 3, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Luke.

I come tonight to say a few words concerning the great truth of the development of the soul in its natural love wherein the New Birth is never experienced.

I know that men think that this natural love has in it a part of the Divinity of the Father's nature, and that as they develop in the way of purifying it and ridding it of those things which tend to impair its harmony, they will realize that there exists in their souls this Divinity of which we have written. But this is not true, for this natural love partakes only of those elements which the Father implanted in it at the time of man's creation, and in none of these elements is any of the qualities of the Divine Nature.

It is difficult to explain just the distinction between the Divine Love coming from the Father, and the natural love also coming from Him, and yet, not having any of the Divine Nature or qualities; but it is a fact. The natural love may become so purified that it may come into perfect harmony with the Laws governing its condition and composition, and yet, fall far short of having in it any of the Divine Love. And so, as we have explained to you, the soul may obtain this Divine Love and thereby become a part of the Father's Divinity.

I will now try to explain how the natural love of man may be developed, so that his soul may come into harmony with the Law of Love - the natural love - and make him a very happy, pure and contented being.

In the first place, I wish to say that there is no such thing in the world as original sin or evil, and that God did not create them or permit them to exist, except as He permits man to use his own will without limitation; and I mean by this that He does not say that a man, in the exercise of this will, shall do this or do that; and as respects this will, man is untrammeled. But He does say, and His Laws are inexorable in this particular, that  man, when in the exercise of the great power of free will, causes that will to come into conflict with the will of God, or to violate His Laws, he, man, must suffer the consequences.

This may be illustrated by your natural laws declaring the freedom of the press. Man may publish whatsoever he pleases, and so long as he does not thereby violate the rights of others, or of decency, he may make his publications without fear of the law; but when, in the exercise of this freedom of speech, as you call it, he violates the law, then he must suffer the consequences of this violation.

So it is with the mortal who, in the exercise of his free will, violates the Will of the Father, or the Laws limiting its exercise by the mortal. He must suffer the consequences, and the results of this violation are sin and evil created and in no other way. And surprising as it may sound to you, man is the creator of sin and evil, and not God, who is only good.

Then the question arises, "How can sin and evil be eradicated from the world?" And every thoughtful man will have the same answer and, that is, by men ceasing to violate the will of God, or His Laws, which restrict the exercise of the wills of mortals to that which, in its right exercise, will not produce sin or evil. In other words, when men by the wrong use of their wills bring about in-harmony, they can by the right use of their wills not disturb that harmony, which when it exists, leaves no room for the presence of sin and error.

So you see, the one thing necessary in order for men to become happy and free from everything that defiles them, or causes unhappiness or discord to exist, is to develop their souls in this natural love, until this love comes into perfect unison with the Laws that control it and, thus, may be applied the oft quoted expression that "Love is the fulfilling of the Law," but this means love in its purest and most perfect state.

Now how can this development of the natural love be accomplished by men?

The mind, while a powerful helper in this regard, is not of itself sufficient to bring about this great desideratum. It is true that with every mortal there is a constant warfare between the appetites and lusts of the flesh, and his higher desires; and, hence, it is said that these appetites and desires are sinful, and the cause of evil and the in-harmony that exists in the lives of mortals. But this statement is not altogether true, for as man was made with spiritual aspirations and desires, so also was he made with appetites and desires of the flesh, and the latter of themselves are not evils.

The failure to make the distinction between the fact that these appetites and desires of the flesh are not evil, and the fact that only the perversion of them brings evil, is the great stumbling block that stands in the way of man's developing this natural love in the manner that I have indicated. These, what are sometimes called the animal appetites and desires, may be exercised in such a way as to be in perfect harmony with the Laws that control them, and in such exercise not interfere with or prevent the development of this natural love to perfection.

But man, in the free exercise of his will, has in his wanderings gone beyond the limitations which the Law of Harmony has placed upon him, added to and increased and distorted the appetites and desires of the flesh which were originally bestowed upon him and, hence, has himself created those things that are not in harmony with the creation of himself.

So you see, man is a creator as well as a creature. As the latter, he cannot alter or change any of the effects of his creation; but as the former, he can alter and change and even abolish the effects of his own creation, for as the creator, (he) is greater than the things that he created - although these things of his own creation have held him in bondage and unhappiness, to a more or less extent, ever since he became their creator. The strength of this apparent paradox is that the creator, man, has for all these long centuries believed it and submitted to his creations and still does so.

So what is the remedy?

Simply this: man must awaken to the fact that he is greater than his creatures; that they are subject to his will, and that whenever, by their existence and workings, they bring discord and unhappiness, and cause his will to be exercised in opposition to the Will of the Father, then they must be destroyed and never be permitted to come into existence again. Let men become the masters of their creatures, and obedient to the great Will of their Creator, and they will realize that sin and error and unhappiness will disappear, and their natural love will come into harmony with the Laws of its creation, and earth will indeed become a Heaven, and the brotherhood of man established on earth.

If men will only think and - thinking - believe that all sin and error and the resulting unhappiness and sorrow in the world are children of their own creation, and not the children of God, and that in the economy of His universe, He leaves the control and management and even the existence of these children to the will of their parents; they will understand why evil exists, why wars and hatred and misery continue on earth to blight the lives and happiness of mortals; and why, as some say, and especially the so-called Christians, God permits all these things to exist and flourish and apparently contradict the great truth - that He is good and the fountainhead of all goodness.

The universe and the inhabitants thereof and the greatest production of His power - man - were all created by God; but sin and error and their awful followings are the creatures of man. The Laws of His universe work in harmony, and all is good; and even the apparent in-harmony, which man has created, does not affect that great harmony, but is confined in its workings to man, himself. Only man is apparently in in-harmony, and that is caused by man, himself.

Suppose, for a moment, that man's will was working in accord with that of the Father; can you imagine that there would be any of these creatures of man's perverted will in existence? Would there be any evil or hatred or disease or suffering known to the consciousness of man? I tell you, no.

Now I say man, their creator, must destroy these inharmonious creatures. Man must kill and bury deep and forever these children of the perverted exercise of his will, and until then, sin and error and all their concomitants will continue to live and flourish and torment their creator.

And I say here with all emphasis and with a full realization of the great significance and responsibility in the sight of God, which I assume in saying it, that man can destroy these bastard creatures of his will so perverted and discordant. His natural love, if permitted to assert its God-given powers and functions, is sufficient to bring his will in accord with that of the Father and turn his thoughts away from these children of his, and to make him conscious of purity and truth. The dead desires and dead appetites will bury their dead children, and man will come into his own again.

But then comes the question, "How is man to accomplish this great end, so devoutly to be wished for?"

Well, it is late now, and I will write upon this important feature of this development of his natural love in my next message. So with all my love I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

Luke Writes on the Mystery of the Birth of the Soul in the Human Being

January 13, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Luke.

I want to tell you tonight of the mystery of the birth of the soul in the human being. All souls which enter into mortal bodies are, previous to such advent, real living existences and made in the likeness of the Great Soul, though not having the qualities and potentialities of that Soul and, also, not having the form of individualized personality that they have after they become parts of the composition, or form, of the mortal and spiritual bodies of human beings.

The soul, in its existence prior to becoming an indweller in the mortal body, has a consciousness of its existence and of its relationship to God and to other parts of the Great Soul, and more especially of the duplex character of its being; and by this I mean the sexual differences in the two parts of the soul, which in the way that they are united, constitutes the one complete soul.

When the time comes for this soul to become an indweller in the mortal frame, the two parts that I speak of separate, and only one of the parts enters at the same time into a mortal and never into the same mortal; and while this separation is necessary for the individualization of each part of this one complete soul, yet the two parts never lose that interrelationship, or the binding qualities that existed before their separation, and which continue to exist thereafter, and in the great future, after the work of individualization shall be completed, will come together again and reunite in a complete one.

This separation may exist a longer or shorter time, depending upon the similar development of those similar qualities that is absolutely necessary in order that this coming together in the original one, as it were, may take place.

While, as I have said, this soul before its separation has a consciousness of its existence, and when its duplex character leaves it, or rather leaves the two separated parts, and thereafter, until its re-entrance into the spirit world, does not again return to these parts. But in order to regain this consciousness, it is not necessary that both of these parts at the same time shall come again into the spirit life, for if one part becomes a spirit, free from the physical body, and the other part remains in the mortal body, that part that comes into the spirit world may receive the awakening to this consciousness, depending upon certain conditions and developments .

It often happens that both these parts will return to the spirit world, and yet, for a long time, live as spirits without having a restoration of this consciousness, because of various reasons that may exist. The conditions of the development of the two parts may be so vastly different that the realization of this consciousness may be wholly impossible; and very often it is the case that when these two individualized parts are informed that they are the soulmates of each other, they will not believe that information and live on in utter indifference to the fact.

But ultimately, the consciousness of their relationship will come to them, because their development, no matter whether intellectual or spiritual, will tend towards the awakening of this consciousness, which is always present with them, although dormant.

Now, as to what this soul is in its constituent parts or shape or form prior to its separation for the purpose of becoming an inhabitant of the mortal body, we spirits are not informed and do not know. We are often present at the conception, and also the birth of a child, and realize that a soul has become enveloped in the flesh, but we cannot see that soul as it enters into that home of mortal environment, because as to us it is invisible and has no form; but after its lodgment in the human body, we can perceive it and realize its existence, for then it assumes a form, and that form varies in different incarnations, or in the incarnations in different humans.

We have never seen the Soul of God, although we know that there is this Great Oversoul and, hence, we cannot see the soul of any image of the Great Soul until it becomes, as I say, individualized.

I know that men have often wondered and asked the question as to the pre-existence of the soul that has been incarnated, and what qualities and attributes it had during its pre-existence; and, as to these particulars, I wish to say that we spirits, although we are inhabitants of God's Celestial Heavens, have little information, though we know that the soul, and I mean the complete soul in oneness, has an existence prior to its becoming individualized. You may ask how we know this. Well, it will be hard to explain this to you, so that you may comprehend, but this I can say, that we spirits of the higher soul development can, by our soul perceptions, understand the existence of these souls as images of the Great Soul, and the qualities of these images are such that, while we cannot sensibly, as you would say, see these souls or their dualities, yet we are conscious of their existence. To use an illustration, that is not altogether appropriate, you understand that the wind blows, yet you cannot see it.

And we further understand, and such is the result of our observations, that when the soul, and keep in mind that I mean the two parts when I say soul, once becomes incarnated and assumes an individualized form, it never thereafter loses that individuality and, hence, never again returns to its condition of pre-existence and can never again become reincarnated in the existence of any human being.

There is no such thing as reincarnation, and all the theories and speculations of men upon that question, which conclude that a soul once incarnated can again become incarnated, are wrong, for the incarnation of a soul is only one step in its destined progress from an invisible formless existence to a glorious angel or to a perfected spirit.

A soul in this progress never retraces its steps - it is always progress, though sometimes stagnation takes place, but continues as an individualized spirit until it reaches its goal in fulfillment of the Father's plan for the perfecting of His universe.

This is a subject that is difficult of treatment for several reasons, among which is the fact that we spirits, no matter how high our attainments, do not have the information in order to give a full and complete description of the soul and its qualities prior to its incarnation, and you mortals are not capable of comprehending the full truth as we may try to convey it to you.

I have made this effort to give you some faint idea of the soul, as you are in good condition tonight to receive my ideas, but I realize how inadequate my attempt has proved to be. But from it, you can understand that the soul has an existence prior to its finding its home in the physical body, that it is duplex and has a consciousness of the relationship of its two parts, that after it has received the experience of the mortal life and received an individuality, it returns to the spirit world, and that at some time that consciousness will come to it again, and the two parts will become one, unless in the development of these separate parts have arisen barriers that may prevent their reuniting. And further, that this soul will never again retrace the steps of its progression and become reincarnated.

I will now close and with my love and blessings say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

Jesus Writes That Salvation is a Thing Between God and the Individual Receiving His Divine Love

January 4, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

I will write only a few lines, and because I desire to confirm what Luke has so clearly explained as to what the atonement is. He has stated the true plan of God for the redemption of mankind, that is, for the placing of them in the exact relation to our Father that our first parents occupied, and which relation by their disobedience was taken from them and never restored until my coming.

Men must learn the true meaning of the great plan for their salvation and for their becoming at-one with the Father in His Divine Nature. No other plan has been provided and no other way is open to men to receive this Divine Nature of the Father and Immortality.

The material love of man - that is, the love of the Father that God bestowed upon men at the creation of our first parents - is a love that is pure and in harmony with God's laws and the workings of the universe, and which must be restored to its pristine purity in order for man to come into harmony with God as to the laws controlling it; and men must, in order to get in this harmony, become free from all violations of God's laws in their conduct towards Him and towards one another; and many of my teachings were directed to bring about this harmony.

The Golden Rule is one and this great teaching, if observed in the conduct of men towards one another, will tend to bring about the harmony. For to man, the most important thing is his own happiness; and when a man shall do unto others as he would have others do unto him, he will be proceeding towards that condition of conduct and the correct relationship of man to man that will bring harmony and an observance of those requirements of God's laws controlling such relationship. But the observance of the right conduct of man to man, or the regaining of the purity of this natural love, will not bring about the great reconciliation to God in the Divine sense; that is, make men at-one with the Father in His Divinity and Immortality.

And now I see and understand why my great teachings of the Divine atonement was not considered as important by men, after my early followers died, as the teachings that should control them in their conduct towards one another, that is, what may be called my moral teachings.

In those days, the great majority of men who professed to follow my teachings, as are written in the Bible that the church adopted, thought more of the rewards and happiness that might come to them as mortals than to those that might come to them after they became spirits, just as the Jews had thought for all the long years prior to my coming. These teachings were merely those of the earth, and as such teachings, whether of the Old Testament or any other teachings recognized by them as governing their conduct as mere mortals, were of more importance to them than were the teachings that showed them the way to the Celestial Kingdom.

And when the church, which my apostles founded, came under the control and government of men with only the temporal interests at heart, the greater importance was attached to those things which, as the rulers and leaders of the church thought, would cause the people to conduct themselves in such a way as would tend to increase the power and influence of the church. And, hence, the great truth of the New Birth was neglected and salvation was declared to be by means that could be more readily utilized by the officials of the church. In other words, salvation became a thing which depended on the church and not on the individual. So you see the great harm that was done by these teachings and the great power the church acquired.

Salvation is a thing between God and the individual and can be obtained only by the individual becoming at-one with the Father, who cares not for the teachings of the church or of man, unless these teachings will bring the souls of men in harmony with him. I say, cares not, but that does not just express what I mean, for God does care whenever His creatures are taught false doctrines, as He is waiting and anxious to bestow upon every man His Divine Love. But even He cannot or will not make such bestowal, unless man follow the Plan which He has prescribed. And He could not have adopted any other plan, for the only way in which men can become at-one with Him is to become, as it were, a part of Him to partake of His Nature and Attributes; and unless the soul of man receives from the Father these Qualities, it can never become at-one with Him.

As Luke said, my death or blood or any supposed vicarious atonement could not have made a man's soul a possessor of the Divine Love of the Father, because they could not bring man into that relationship with the Father that would cause the soul of man to open up to the inflowing of this Love. Let no man suppose that by a mere belief in me as the son of God and the savior of the world, or that I died for him, he can become at-one with the Father, for it is not true and has worked great harm to mankind.

Only the pure, honest, sincere aspirations of the soul of a man for this Great Love of the Father can possibly bring about this atonement that is necessary in order for that man to become a part of God's Divinity and partake of His Divine Nature.

I have written enough and will close.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

Luke Writes Further On the Atonement, Part 2

January 4, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Luke.

I wish to continue my discourse on the Atonement.

As I was saying unless a man gets into harmony with God in the natural love, which God bestowed upon him, and thereby becomes free from sin and error, there can be no redemption for him, and the death of Jesus and the shedding of his blood cannot cause that harmony.

Now what I have heretofore said relates exclusively to man and his salvation in respect to his condition of becoming perfect in this natural love, which all men have. But this is not the great atonement, which Jesus came to earth to teach men and the way in which it could be obtained and the effect of its attainment.

As has been told you, in the beginning God conferred upon our first parents not only the natural love but the potentiality of obtaining it by the observance of certain laws and obedience, the Divine Love of the Father, which - when obtained - would make a man a part of divinity itself; and while it would not make him a god, or the equal of the Father, yet it would give him a divinity that would cause him to receive the substance of God's Great Love and not remain the mere image and, as a consequence, man would become immortal.

God alone, is Immortal, and every part of Him is Immortal, and when men shall obtain in their souls that part of Him which is his Greatest Attribute - His Divine Love - they will also become Immortal and thereafter not subject to death.

The natural love, which was implanted in the souls of all mankind, is not a part of the Divine Love. It is not this love in a lesser degree even, but is a distinct and separate quality of love, and all men possess it; but in many persons, it has become contaminated by the sins that flow from the violation of God's Laws, so that the redemption, of which I have spoken, is necessary for man even as the possessor of this natural love only.

But the Divine Love of the Father is a Love that has in it and is wholly composed of the Divinity, which the Father possesses, and no man can ever become a part of that Divinity until he possesses this Great Love. I know it is said that man is divine because he was created in the image of God, but nothing which is a mere image is ever a part of the substance of which it is the image and cannot possibly have the qualities of that substance. Commonly speaking, the image may have the appearance and for the ordinary affairs of the mortal life may serve the purpose of the real until something that arises that demands the production of the real, and then the image will no longer serve the purpose.

Now in the case of the creation of man, he was made in the image of God in one particular only, and that in the matter of soul appearance. His physical or spiritual body was not in the image of God, for God has no such bodies, and only the soul of man is in the image of God, the Great Oversoul. And so long as man remains a mere image of the Father, he will never be more than the mere man that he was at the time of his creation, and the Substance of the Father will never become a part of him; and while the Substance is Divine, the image can never become Divine until it becomes transformed into the Substance.

At man's creation, a plan was formed by which that image might become a thing of Substance, and there was given to man, the possessor of the image, the potentiality of obtaining the Substance; but man, through his disobedience or failure to comply with or follow out the requirements of the plan provided, forfeited this potentiality, which had been conferred upon him and thereby lost the possibility of having the image transformed into the Substance, which was absolutely necessary in order for him to ever become the possessor of any part of the Father's Divinity. And when men call themselves "divine," they assert that which is not true, but which, since the coming of Jesus to earth, may become true.

I will not recite what this disobedience of our first parents was, or in what way they lost the great potentiality of becoming Divine, but will only say that when, by their disobedience, they forfeited this potentiality, it was taken from them by God, and His decree - that in the day they should commit the act of disobedience they should surely die - was carried out and they died; not the material bodies died nor their spiritual bodies died, nor their souls, for men continued to live in their physical bodies for many years after the day of disobedience, and their spirit bodies and souls never died, for they still live. But what died and what the sentence passed upon them affected was the potentiality of receiving the Substance, which would make them Divine and Immortal. This potentiality was taken from them and never restored during the long centuries from the time of its death until the coming of Jesus.

That part of the Divine Nature, or that Divine attribute, which was the object of this potentiality and which would make man a part of the Divine Nature and immortal, was the Divine Love of the Father and nothing else; and if our first parents, through their obedience, had received this Divine Love, never would mortality as to the soul have existed on earth, and neither sin nor a want of atonement with the Father. But disobedience came and death of the possibility of becoming immortal ensued, and man remained mere man, only an image of the Father and nothing more.

No man in all the long ages that I have mentioned ever had anything more or greater in his nature than the natural love of which I have spoken; and even as to that, man so abused and defiled it, until at a time he became an outcast from the Father as to this Love. In other words he, man, buried it so deeply under his acts of sin and the violation of those Laws of God, which control this natural love, that he appeared to be forsaken by the Father even as a mere human being.

But in the history of what is called "God's chosen people," the Jews, it appears that time and time again these people became such aliens from God in this natural love, that men, possessed of this love in a purer state than were the common people, were used by the forces of the spirit world to call these people to a realization of their obligations to God arising out of the gift of the natural love. None of the prophets - neither Moses nor Elijah nor any of the others - was possessed of this Divine Love, but merely of the natural love in a purer state than were the people to whom they delivered their messages.

But in God's own time, and in accordance with His Mercy and Plan, He re-bestowed upon man this great potentiality of which I speak, so that men should again have the privilege of becoming at-one with Him. And to declare the re-bestowal of this Great Gift, Jesus was sent to earth in the form of man conceived and born as other men, but without sin.

It was at the time of Jesus' coming the Great Gift was re-bestowed upon both mortals and spirits of mortals then living in the spirit world, and they all, spirits and mortals, received the privilege of becoming at-one with the Father through the Plan of Salvation that He had revealed to Jesus, and which Jesus taught in his ministry during the short years of his earthly life, and which he is still teaching.

There is no other way in which man can become at-one with the Father - in which the image can be transformed into the Substance - than the Way that Jesus taught, but which seems not to have been understood by men after the church became a church of temporal power, and after the Bible or the writings of the apostles were emasculated and the thoughts and desires of men interpolated in the place of the gospel of peace and salvation. Yet there is in the Gospel of John one declaration of the true Plan of Salvation, though it is little understood and almost ignored in practical teachings and observances of the churches and their members, and that is: "Except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God."

These words of the New Birth are the only words that declare the true doctrine of the atonement. No death of Jesus on the cross, no shedding of blood or washing away of sins by the blood, no paying of any debt and no believing in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, will bring men into atonement with the Father and make them partakers of his Divine Nature or fit them to become inhabitants of His Kingdom. Only the New Birth is efficacious for this purpose, and no other plan did Jesus ever teach and is not now teaching.

Then what is meant by the New Birth? Men in their understanding and interpretation of it differ, and it will do no good for me to recite these different interpretations or what the New Birth is not; but the important thing is, what it is. As I have said, the potentiality that was conferred upon our first parents was the privilege of obtaining the Divine Nature and immortality of the Father by becoming possessed of His Great attribute of Divinity - the Divine Love. And had our first parents by their obedience received the benefits of this great privilege, they would have been Born Again, as you and all other mortals and spirits, as well, may now be Born Again.

Then the New Birth is simply the effect of the flowing into the soul of a man of this Divine Love of the Father, and the disappearing of everything that tends to sin and error. As the Divine Love takes possession of the soul, sin and error disappear; it, the soul becomes of a quality like the Great Soul of the Father; and the Soul of the Father in its Quality of Love being Divine and Immortal. So when the soul of man becomes possessed of this Quality of Love, this soul becomes Divine also - and the soul is the man - and then the image becomes the Substance, the mortal becomes the Immortal and the soul of man, as to love and hope, becomes a part of the Father's Divinity.

Now to declare this Plan of Salvation and also the re-bestowal of the Great Gift of the potentiality of the soul, Jesus came to earth. This was his mission and none other. As readers of the Bible will remember, and it is a truth, when Jesus was baptized and anointed and, also on the Mount of Transfiguration, the voice of God, as it is written, declared that Jesus was His well beloved son and demanded of the people: "Hear ye him." Not to believe that he came to die on the cross, not to believe that his blood would bring about the atonement, not to believe in any vicarious atonement or that God in wrath demanded a sacrifice, but only "Hear ye him." And Jesus in all his teachings never taught one of these things, but only the New Birth as I have explained it. This is the only thing necessary to the atonement, and he is still teaching it.

He also taught moral truths affecting the conduct and relation of man to man, and man to God in his natural state, but none of these things or moral teachings were sufficient to bring about the Great Atonement. There is no doubt that the observance of many of these teachings of morality and of man's conduct towards God will have a tendency to lead men to seek the higher Love of the Father and help their souls to get in the condition that will make it easier for this Great Love to flow into them; but these moral teachings or prescribed conduct will not, of themselves, be sufficient to bring the New Birth and, hence, the atonement.

Now Jesus not only taught the necessity for the New Birth, but he also taught the Way in which it could be obtained, and that Way is just as simple and easily understood as the New Birth itself. He taught and is now teaching that through earnest prayer to the Father and faith, which makes all aspirations and soul longings things of real existence, and by the Holy Spirit which is the Father's Messenger of Love - or to carry his Divine Love - this Love will flow into the souls of men in response to such prayers; and by such faith men will realize its presence, and in this way, and this way only, men will receive the New Birth.

This is wholly an individual matter and without the personal, earnest prayer of the supplicant and faith that comes with the Love, a man cannot receive the New Birth. No ceremony of church, no laying on of hands or masses for the souls of the dead will be efficacious to make the man or spirit a new creature in God.

What I have written is the meaning of the atonement as taught by the Master, and as understood by all the redeemed of the Father, who are now living in His Celestial Heavens, and there is no other atonement possible.

I have written enough and hope I have made it plain to all men the true explanation of the atonement. We who are inhabitants of the Celestial Heavens know the truth of my explanation, both from personal experience and from the other fact, which no spirit in all the universe can deny, that only those who have received this Divine Love of the Father in their souls in sufficient abundance can or do inhabit the Celestial Heavens; all other spirits, no matter what their several beliefs may be, live in the lower spiritual spheres and cannot enter the Celestial Heavens, unless they seek for and obtain the New Birth that Jesus taught and is still teaching.

So my dear brother, without writing more, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke