Paul Writes About "Hell: What It Is and What Its Purpose Is"

November 21, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Paul.

I desire tonight to finish my message on: "Hell: What it is and what its purpose is."

As I said before, Hell is a place as well as a condition and, the man who believes that it is nothing more than a condition of his mind or soul will be wonderfully surprised as well as disappointed. I know the condition of mind and soul to a very large extent creates a man's Hell and is the chief source of his suffering and the darkness that surrounds and envelops him; yet, this condition is not the only source of that suffering or of darkness in which he finds himself.

Hell is a place; and a place that has all the appearances and ingredients that are in exact agreement with his state as produced or caused by the condition of his mind or soul and is not a place of universal character and fitted for the habitation of souls, irrespective of conditions of degrees of defilement and sin and darkness.

It is not a single place forming a common home for all fallen souls, but is composed of many and different places and as has been said, there are many Hells having gradations of appearances and surroundings that are suitable for causing additional sufferings which souls may have to endure.

The expression, "The lowest depths of Hell," is not a meaningless one, but portrays a truth, a real existing fact that many spirits are now experiencing the reality of. In its broadest sense, Hell is every place outside of Heaven, and Heaven is that place where everything entering into it - its appearance and qualities and its inhabitants - is in perfect harmony with the respective Laws of God and His will concerning the same.

And this statement involves the fact that there are several Heavens, because the Heaven of the redeemed, or those who have received the Divine Essence in their souls and become of the Divine Nature of the Father, is a distinct Heaven from that wherein live those who have been restored in their natural love to the perfect condition that the first parents possessed before the fall - the condition of the restitution to mankind of that perfection which was lost by the disobedience of the first man and woman.

Mortals usually believe that Heaven is a condition, and the Bible, in which so many believe, attempts to describe this Heaven with its streets of gold and pearly gates, etc., and as a fact, it is a real substantial place having all the elements and appearances of a home of bliss, which help to bring to its inhabitants happiness and joy in addition to the happiness which their soul perfection and development cause them to have.

Then as Heaven is a place having real substance perceptible to the spirits that inhabit it, why should not Hell be a place of real substance, also, with those qualities and appearances exactly suited to add to the unhappiness of those who are fitted for it? The spirit world, both Heaven and Hell are places of substance having their planes and divisions and limitations of occupancy and not mythical, invisible conceptions of mind as you mortals ordinarily conceive ghosts to be. The spirits of mortals are real and more substantial than are the physical bodies of mortals, and these planes and divisions, whether of Heaven or Hell, have a more real existence than have the mortals in their places of habitation or confinement in the earth life.

The Hells are places of darkness and sufferings but in them are no fires or brimstone, etc., as have been so commonly represented by the preachers and teachers of the orthodox churches, because there is nothing therein that would feed fires or that fires could affect, and there are no devils or Satan, though there are evil spirits of men that are more wicked and vicious and horrifying than have ever been pictured of the devil and his angels.

In your communications, you have had some very realistic descriptions of Hell from those who are actually living therein and are realizing its tortures and realities, and I will not take the time here to attempt to describe it in detail and will only say that as it has not entered into the minds of men to conceive the wonders and beauties of Heaven, neither have they ever conceived of the horrors and sufferings of Hell. But from all this, men must not understand that the punishment and darkness which the spirits of evil endure in the Hells are specifically inflicted by the Father because of any wrath that He may have towards these spirits, or to gratify any feelings of revenge, or even to satisfy any outraged justice, for it is not true.

Man, when he becomes a spirit, is his own judge and executioner, submitting to and receiving the inexorable results of the Law that: "Whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap." This is a law that is necessary to preserve or bring about the harmony of God's universe, which, of course, is absolutely necessary, and while it may appear to man, at first sight, to be a harsh and cruel Law, yet in its workings and results, even to the individual spirit who may suffer in the reaping, it is a most benign and beneficial law, for the darkness and sufferings of a few years, as you mortals say, bring about an eternity of light and happiness.

The Law must rule; and in all the apparent harshness and suffering and want of mercy, the Great Divine Love of the Father overshadows the sufferer and finally makes the defiled and wicked soul become one of purity and goodness. Men may never have thought of the fact; that if it were possible for these evil spirits to live in Heaven, their sufferings and unhappiness would be greater than what they endure by living in the place that is more in agreement in its surroundings and appearances with their own distorted conditions of soul. So even in their Hells, the Father is Merciful and Good.

And regarding the second proposition of the preacher (Dr. Ratcliff) in his sermon, namely, the duration of suffering or of the life of the spirit in Hell. His conclusion was that this duration of the spirit is eternal, everlasting and without end. How it must have hurt and violated the teachings of his soul and his conception of the loving Father to come to such a conclusion! But, yet, being bound by his creeds and the domination of his belief that the Bible is the sole authority upon Hell, as well as Heaven, in the conviction of his mind - and here I want to emphasize mind, for his heart was not in agreement - he declared that the duration of the sufferings and life of the Hells is eternal and the saying of Jesus proved it to be, not only because it was in the Bible, but because the true meaning of the original Greek word can have no other translation; not knowing, or if knowing, not recalling, that Jesus, even if he used such expression, did not speak in Greek, and that back of the Greek word, in order to obtain the true meaning of the word used by Jesus, he, the preacher, must go to the word as it was uttered by Jesus and its true meaning.

So many preachers and commentators on the Bible attempt to determine a most vital truth by a shade of meaning that they conceive a particular word in its original, may have, when they are not justified in concluding that such word had at the time used, such shade of meaning, or that the original as they conceive it to be, was the original word actually spoken or written. They seem to lose sight of the fact that the writings of the Bible, I mean the manuscripts, to which they make reference to prove the correctness of their conclusions, are far removed from the original writings, and that by reason of the copying and recopying of the word upon which they rely, and the shade of meaning that they give it in their interpretations may not have been the word originally used. Of course, they have no way of learning this fact and, consequently, they have to resort to the best authority that they can have access to. But under such circumstances, it is not a justifiable thing to have a vital question of man's future and destiny determined by the shade of meaning that may be given to one word or more words, without reference to other declarations of the same Book having relation to the subject matter of the inquiry.

The preacher said that in his conclusion as to the question, he must be governed by the Bible alone and had no right to indulge in speculation of the philosophies of other men and, that in the Bible, he could find nothing that would justify him in coming to any other conclusion than that the duration of punishment in Hell is eternal. Well, he was not honest with himself, for if he had searched a little more deeply and have given as much credence to other parts of the Bible as to the passage that he quoted, he would have found a strong statement to the effect that the evil spirits in Hell have the possibility of leaving it, and not only that but that a part of the great mission of Jesus, upon whose supposed declaration the preacher based his conclusion, was to show the way and induce these spirits of evil to leave their Hells.

This was the Master's first work after he became a spirit, and he would not have attempted to preach to these wicked spirits in Hell, so wicked, according to the Bible, that God because of their great sins when mortals, punished them as He never punished any other of His children, for their disobedience, utterly destroying them as a race and His only living human creatures from the face of the earth, by one great catastrophe, leaving only Noah and his family as a reminder of the great failure of God in His creation - the most perfect and the "very good." So I say, if the preacher had searched the Bible, he would have found that the Hell that contained the spirits of all the human race that was living at the time of the flood, except Noah and his family was not in its duration eternal.

And again, had the preached searched further he would have found that the Master Himself declared by necessary implication, that, at least, for some of the wicked who became inhabitants of Hell, there was possibility of release and certainty upon conditions. I refer to the declaration attributed to him where he said, "He that sinneth against the son of man, it shall be forgiven him, but he that sinneth against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to come." (Matt. Chapter 12--Verse 32)

Now, to any reasonable man there is only one interpretation of this declaration and, that is, that for any and all sins, except that against the Holy Ghost, there is forgiveness in the next world as well as in the mortal world, and that being a fact, it is an irresistible conclusion that the Father would not compel a spirit to remain in Hell after He had forgiven that spirit's sins.

No, the preacher had not searched the Scriptures, as he was in duty bound to do, else his conclusion, could he have ridden his mind of the beliefs that the creeds of his church had driven into his intellect, and of the teachings of the ancient fathers, and of the churches that had taught such false and damnable doctrines for so many years, would have been very different. The preacher repudiated the old teachings that there would be physical suffering in Hell, or fire or brimstone, etc., and expressed his commiseration for those preachers and others who had taught such doctrine and for their awful responsibility and accounting, and his commiseration was needed and appropriate. But l want to say here that he needs as much, if not more, commiseration for the preaching of his false doctrines, as did those preachers to whom he refers. He has more light, or may have, and his accounting will be correspondingly greater.

I have written a long letter, and you are tired and I must stop, but before doing so, let me declare the truth to be that:

"Hell is not a place of eternal punishment; that all the Hells as well as other parts of the spirit world are places of progression and the privilege of probation is not taken from any spirit no matter how wicked, for all are God's children and in His Plans for the perfecting of the harmony of the universe, and man's salvation, all the Hells will be emptied and the Hells themselves destroyed."

But men must not think from this that the duration of suffering in these Hells is necessarily short, for that is not true; some of the evil inhabitants of these places have been in such darkness and suffering for centuries, as mortals count time and may be for centuries more, but the time will come when they will have the awakening to the fact that they may become children of light, and then when they make the effort to progress, they will succeed. The sooner that mankind learns that Hell is not a place of punishment to satisfy the wrath of an angry God, but merely the natural and necessary living place of the spirit, whose condition of soul and mind demands, and that condition changes, and it will change, the Hell of its habitation will change until finally for that spirit all the Hells will disappear.

You are tired and I must stop. So thanking you, and leaving you my love and blessings,

I am your brother in Christ,
Paul

St. Paul Writes that Hell is a Place and a Condition

November 20, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Paul .

I come to write you on the subject that I commented on last night, namely: Hell and the duration of punishment; and if you feel that you are in condition to receive the message, I will begin and finish the same.

Well, as I said last night, the Hell of the orthodox preachers as formerly taught, that is a Hell of brimstone and fires, is not the true Hell and has no existence save in the minds of these orthodox believers.

The true Hell is a place and a condition and one is not separated from the other; and while the condition of the soul and the beliefs of men create the Hells to a very large extent, yet Hell is a fixed abiding place made and established and of such a character as to suit the inhabiting of it by the soul according to the condition of that soul.

To illustrate, a soul that is less vile and filled with evil thoughts and the recollection of evil deeds and false beliefs, is in a very different place from the soul that has more of this evil in it. The former soul would not find its habitation in the same place as the latter soul would - any more than would the highly developed soul find its home in the same place as would the soul that is less developed.

Heaven is a place, or many places, suited to the development of the soul, so Hell is a place suited to the souls of degradation and evil condition. I mean to be understood as saying that place and condition of soul are correlative terms, the home of the soul depending on the condition of the soul. As these different Hells vary, so they are suited for the souls of spirits according to the defilement of soul.

I see that you are not just in condition to write or to receive my thoughts, and I will not write more. But I will come soon and write fully on these matters. So with the hope that soon you will be able to take my message, I will say good night.

Paul

St. Paul Writes There is No Fire and Brimstone in Hell and Punishment is Not Everlasting

November 19, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Paul.

I merely want to say that I was present at the church tonight and listened to the preacher (Dr. Ratcliff) tell his congregation what he didn't know about Hell, because what he said, in many particulars, was untrue and it was pleasing to hear him tell his people that there was no physical suffering, although he didn't explain to them why there could be no such suffering, and I mean that no spirit, when he goes into Hell carries with him his physical body, or any other body, that has such substance as would be affected by fire and brimstone and the other unreasonable things that the churches have for so many years taught and terrified their members with and, as a consequence, caused them to believe that the Father is such a cruel and wrathful Father demanding that His cravings for satisfaction be supplied by the sizzling in fire of the bodies of His children. No, this damnable doctrine is not true and I am glad to see that the churches are ceasing to believe or teach it.

But the doctrine that the preacher taught is quite as bad, and as useless as the former, for the reason, that punishment of sinners and those who are out of harmony with God is a fact which they all will realize when they come to the spirit world, and that being so, to teach that this punishment is everlasting is as harmful as the one that I first mentioned. How strange that preachers and teachers will try to cause their people and listeners to believe that God is such a wrathful and vindictive being, having less love and mercy than the most wicked and earthly father has for his children. It is so very deplorable that such attempts are made by these supposed instructors of what God is, to blaspheme Him in His great qualities of Love and Tenderness, and the desire that all His children become happy.

Oh, I tell you that these preachers will have a woeful sin to answer for when they come to an accounting, and that will not be at the great judgment day, as they teach, but just as soon as they enter spirit life and realize the great harm that they have done to many who have followed them in their teachings; and they will realize that awful result very soon after their entrance into the spirit world, for they will have come to them, as clouds of witnesses, the spirits of those who were under their instructions on earth, bringing with them all the evidence of the results of their erroneous beliefs and the stains of this great sin of blasphemy.

I, Paul, write this for I know. I have suffered from this very cause myself because, when on earth, I taught some doctrine like unto the one that these preachers are now teaching, and even now I realize that to some extent I am responsible for many false beliefs; but I thank God that all that is ascribed to me in the Bible, I am not responsible for, and that if my true teachings were known and taught, the blind and erroneous beliefs that are now so prevalent among Christians would not exist. I tell you that mortals do not conceive the great harmful and deplorable results that flow from their beliefs in the Bible in many particulars.

This Book is one of falsehoods and forgery and imputations that have no resemblance to what the Master or any of his apostles taught, and you can readily realize how anxious we all are that these errors and untruths be removed from the minds and souls of men. But I must not permit myself to become too enthusiastic in considering these things tonight, or I might not stop as I should under the circumstances.

I will come, though, very soon and write you on the subject, as it is a vital one to mankind, and I will explain the truths connected with it as fully as is possible for men to understand. I should like to write more tonight but I must not. So with my love, I will say, good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Paul

Paul Writes About "What is the real body that is resurrected at the time of the physical death?"

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

I am here, Paul.

Yes, I come tonight to write you upon a subject that may be of interest to you and important to all mankind. If you are in condition to receive my message I will write. Well, the subject is: "What is the real body that is resurrected at the time of the physical death?"

Of course, there will be but one resurrection and that takes place at the time the mortal becomes an inhabitant of the spirit world. There will never be what is called a general resurrection of the dead, for the mortal can die only once - I mean in a physical sense. In order to live in the spirit realms, it is necessary that he have a spirit body that preserves the identity of his individuality, and having this body (and never having been without it after the soul is incarnated in the earthly body) and not needing an additional body, there is no possibility of another resurrection, or of another body being added to the one that the soul already has.

The body that dies when the man ceases to be a mortal disintegrates into its elements, and never again do these elements form the same body that becomes decayed and, hence, it is impossible for that body to be resurrected. The only body that is ever resurrected is the body that encloses the soul of the mortal at the time he gives up the earth life.

I know that many believe that when the man dies, his conscious existence ceases, and he becomes, as it were, dead in body, soul and spirit; that although the physical body decays and returns to dust or ashes, yet the soul and spirit, in some mysterious and unexplainable manner, continues to exist as an unthinking sleeping entity not subject to sensation or activity, and so remains until the great day of judgment or of Christ's coming when, in response to the summons, it arouses itself, answers the summons, and again becomes clothed in the body which it possessed while in the human form. In their belief, it may not be the exact or identical body which once existed, but the new body will be one of flesh and blood and of such a nature as to be in substance the same body that was dead and buried and decayed.

But this is not true. For the very laws of nature, with which men are acquainted, prove the impossibility of such an occurrence. And many arguments have been formulated and declared to prove that such a resurrection cannot be - that it will be wholly impossible for the elements that constituted the old body to again assemble in the same form and give to the soul the body that it discarded when it experienced its freedom from the bonds of the flesh.

But the advocates of this untrue theory respond that God is all powerful and, in some way not understood by men, will resurrect this old body and clothe the soul therein so that the identity of the individual will appear. It must be remembered that God works and produces beings and entities in accordance with laws that he has established, and not by any special, sporadic act, irrespective of and, as said, in contravention of these laws.

Man understands, to some extent, the workings of these laws in what he calls nature, or the normal, and some spirits understand not only what man understands, but also the workings of these laws that may be called above nature or super-normal, and the laws work the same and without change or interference in the one case as in the other.

As it would be impossible to clothe a mortal having one body of flesh with another body of flesh, so in the spirit world it would be impossible to clothe the spirit who has a spirit body with any additional body, whether of flesh or other substance. This spirit body is a thing of real substance and not susceptible of being enveloped in any other body.

Well, I see that you are not in condition to write and I will postpone the remainder of the message until later. I have not written you for some time and am glad of the opportunity to again write. I understand what you mean and will act on your suggestion as I think it a very wise and desirable one. I will come more often and write. So with all my love I will say, good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Paul

**********

Paul Continues the Previous Message

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

I am here, Paul.

I will finish my message tonight if you are so inclined. Well, we will try.

As I was saying, the body that is resurrected at death is not the physical body, but the spirit body; and never after the first resurrection is there another. I am now dealing with the resurrection other than that of the soul, or the resurrection from the death of which I have before written you.

The body that is once laid in the grave will never be resurrected and neither will any of its elements enter into any other body for the purpose of a resurrection. The body of flesh is created for one purpose only, and when that purpose has been accomplished, never will that body or any derivation from it be used for any other resurrection. This body of flesh is of matter, and like all matter, is used for the life on earth only, and cannot be used for any function or clothing any spirit in the spirit world, and neither can it be translated into the spirit realms. All material bodies must die and never will there come a time when men can leave the earth and enter the spirit life in these material bodies.

I know that it has been written that certain of the prophets of old were translated into the spirit Heavens clothed in their fleshly bodies, but this is not true, for it is impossible that such a thing could be, for the same laws apply to the physical body of the saint as to that of the sinner; both are of the earth - earthly - and must be left behind when the spirits of men enter the Heavens of spirits.

So that when men believe and preach the general resurrection of the material body, or the special resurrection of the same, they are in error and do not believe or preach the truth. Flesh and blood, or flesh without blood, cannot inherit the kingdom, and no belief or teachings can make that true which is untrue.

I do not desire to write more on this subject, because many men who are acquainted with the Laws of Nature, and many more, who will become acquainted with these laws, know and will know and understand the impossibility of the material entering the realm of the spiritual. So thanking you for your kindness, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
St. Paul

Professor Joseph Salyards Writes that He is Very Thankful to Have Met James Padgett as a Student

February 8, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your old Professor.

I merely want to say that I desire to finish my discourse of some weeks ago and am ready at any time that may suit your convenience. Well, I will come one night this week and try to finish. I see that you are in a very good condition now, as your brain is working very well.

The message that you have received from Paul is a wonderfully deep message upon the existence of the resurrection, and as I understand and have experienced the resurrection is a true explanation of its meaning. Paul is a very logical and clear writer, and I am glad that he finds such little difficulty in making use of your faculties. He is very much pleased at the success of the experiment and his estimate of you is very great, as are the estimates of all the higher spirits who write.

Well my dear boy, I often think of the wonder of all this experience, and sometimes let my mind return to the days when you were my dear pupil; and I think how wholly we were in want of any conception that such a thing could be. And I can't tell you how glad and thankful I am that we ever came in contact with each other, for I will frankly and assuredly say that if I had never met you, I doubt if I would have had the privilege of meeting such spirits as your grandmother and mother and of having received the benefits of their advice and the influence of their love, as well as the companionship of your father and Mr. Riddle. I often think of how a mere accident as your coming to my school should have brought about such momentous results, and in thinking I am so grateful to our Heavenly Father. So my boy, keep up your good work and you will find a wonderful happiness when you come over.

The dark spirits whom you help are so very grateful to you and are all lovers of you and your friends are ready at all time to protect you from the evil that might come to you from the influences of the many evil spirits who have their habitations so near your earth. Yes, more than you can imagine, I want to say this further thing and, that is, that very many spirits who don't have the opportunity to write to you are influenced very much by what they hear you tell others and act on the advice that you give to those who write. And small wonder at the confidence of these spirits have in you and the influence you have with them. So many are being helped, and our work is made so much easier because they listen to us and believe so much more readily when you advise them to do so.

Well, we are very happy and progressing all the time. Oh, I wish I could tell you how beautiful she is and how loving and how much she thinks of you. She is with you quite often and is trying with the rest of us to help you in every way. We know when you pray for us, and it does help us more than you can conceive of, for your prayers are sincere and I know ascend to the Father, who answers the prayers of the sincere and trusting.

So I say, we all love you very much and feel that we cannot do for you what we should like to; but you must believe in us and know that we are with you and have more power than you may think to help.

I have written too long already, and your wife says, "Professor, I don't like to be discourteous, but I must suggest that you stop and let that baby boy go to bed, for he will sit up all night if you continue to write." What a beautiful and loving wife you have and how we all love her for her goodness. So my dear boy, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Prof. Salyards  

St. Paul Writes Further About the Truth of the Resurrection that Jesus Taught

February 8, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Paul, of the New Testament.

I desire to continue my message tonight. As I said in closing my last writing, there is a resurrection that is vital to the salvation of men, which Jesus taught and which, after the death of his followers and believers of the early centuries, the knowledge of was lost to the world and to those who assumed to teach the doctrines of the resurrection that he came to declare and teach.

You and all mankind must know that the resurrection which is the foundation stone of Christianity is a resurrection from the dead and not from the mere existence of a man as a spirit in the physical body on earth, and not as a resurrection of the soul from its environments and limitations that the earth life placed upon it.

Then what is the resurrection that Jesus referred to when he said: "I am the resurrection and the life"?

Now in order to understand this resurrection, it is necessary to understand what is meant by the death of man, that is the real man - the ego, - that part of him in which the breath of life exists, no matter whether he is of the physical or the spiritual.

As has been explained to you elsewhere when man was created, his creation was of the physical body, the spiritual body and the soul and, in addition, the most important part of his creation - the potentiality of becoming so at-one with the Father in His nature and certain of His attributes that he, man, would become so possessed of some of the Divine Essence of the Father and a portion of His Divinity that would cause him to be immortal, so that death could never deprive him of his existence; and not only that, but he would realize the consciousness of his immortality.

This potentiality then was a part of his creation and, as we have explained elsewhere, the only part of his creation that died as the result of his disobedience; for it is very apparent from the mere knowledge that man has, or may have, from the ordinary investigation of the qualities of his being, and from the truths of psychical research of modern days, as well as from the understanding of the many instances related in the Bible of the appearance of departed spirits on earth and the manifestations of their existence, and also from the many occurrences of the appearances of spirits related in what is called secular history, that the soul and spirit body of man never died, and that his physical body lived for many years after the day on which the sentence, because of his disobedience, announced that he should die. And as I have said, this mortal body - not man -  but merely the vesture of covering for the real man.

This potentiality then being the only part of the created man that died, and as Jesus' mission was to teach the resurrection of man from the dead, it necessarily follows that the only thing that was intended to be resurrected was this potentiality of becoming a part of God's Divinity. This is the only real and true resurrection, and upon this resurrection must rest the faith and truth of Christianity - and by Christianity, I mean religion which is based upon the true teachings of Jesus the Christ.

There are contained in the Bible some things which, if properly understood, would show to man that no resurrection of the body was intended as the thing which Jesus came to earth to declare and teach.

When he said, "I am the resurrection and the life," he did not say or mean, wait until I die and then I will become the resurrection; or when you see me ascend to Heaven, then will I become the resurrection and you will know it; but his declarations, not only in the instance mentioned but at all times, were that he was the resurrection while living. And these declarations did not refer to the man Jesus, or to any disposition that he might make of his body, either physical or spiritual, or to any apparent ascension of his physical body, which never took place, or to any ascension of his spiritual body which did occur. In these particulars, he was essentially no more or different from other men that had died or should die.

But the meaning of his saying and his mission were that, as by man's disobedience, there had occurred the death of the possibility of his becoming at-one with the Father and partaking of his Divine Nature, and as that possibility had never been restored to man in all the intervening years, and man had remained in this condition of death during all the long centuries, if man would only believe in him as the true Christ and in his teachings as to the re-bestowal of this great privilege of again becoming at-one with the Father and of obtaining immortality and would follow his advice as to the way in which man could realize the benefits of this great privilege, then he would become conscious that Jesus was the resurrection from the dead. Not Jesus the man or teacher or the chosen and anointed one of the Father, but Jesus the impersonation of the truths which he proclaimed as to the re-bestowal of the great gift. Only in this way was Jesus the resurrection and the life.

He, himself, had received the great gift and realized his at-onement and the consciousness of his immortality and the possession of the Divine Nature and knew that he had been lifted from death into life and, therefore, if men would believe his teachings as to the resurrection these teachings, and not the man Jesus or even the fact that he had been resurrected, would draw all men unto him, that is, into the condition of life and consciousness that he possessed.

Then the resurrection that Jesus promised to man was the resurrection of this great potentiality which he had lost at the time of the first disobedience and which had never been restored until the coming of Jesus.

Now let it not be misunderstood as to what was meant by this resurrection. As I have said, after men were deprived of this potentiality they were in a condition of death and it was not possible for them to get out of this condition. They were possessed of only what is called their natural love without any possibility of obtaining the Divine Love, which was necessary in order to give them any portion of the Divine Nature and a consciousness of immortality. When the great potentiality, which was as to them as if it had never existed, was re-bestowed, then men were again placed in the position of the first man before his fall and were no longer actually dead, but were possessed of this potentiality to become that which had been forfeited by the first parents.

But as we have told you, the gift of this potentiality was not of itself the bestowal upon man of those qualities which such potentiality merely made it possible for them to acquire by aspiration and effort. Before this re-bestowal, men could not by any aspirations or efforts on their part obtain the conditions and qualities which this potentiality made possible, no matter how great the effort might be; as to them men were simply and absolutely dead. After the re-bestowal, the impossibility - which this death had imposed - was removed, and then men received, not the full fruition of what was possible to obtain because of such re-bestowal, but the privilege of arising from death to life of the resurrection from death to the glories of immortal life.

And while this privilege had become a part of man's possession, yet, if he had remained without consciousness of that fact, he would, in effect, have remained in his condition of death and have never received the benefit of the re-bestowal of the great gift. So to reveal to man the vital truth, Jesus taught and demonstrated in his own life the possession of those qualities that became his because of the existence of the gift.

And he also taught while men had the privilege spoken of, yet, unless they sought for and prayed to the Father in sincerity for the gift of His Divine Love the potentiality, which had been bestowed upon them, would not bring to them the resurrection from the dead, and they would continue in their lives as mortals and as inhabitants of the spirit world, as if they were still under the doom of death.

I may here state that this potentiality, which was lost by the disobedience of the first parents and was re-bestowed by the Father and revealed by Jesus to mankind, was the privilege of receiving and possessing the Divine Love of the Father which, when possessed, would give to man certain qualities of divinity and immortality.

So the resurrection from the dead, that the master taught and which is the one foundation of the Christian faith, arise from the fact that God re-bestowed upon mankind the privilege of seeking for and receiving His Divine Love which would make the mortal one with Him and Immortal; and upon the further fact that man must, in order to obtain the resurrection, seek and find this Divine Love and thereby become a child of the true resurrection - a resurrection that was never known to prophet or seer or reformer or teachers of faiths, no matter how excellent their moral teachings and private lives may have been before the coming of Jesus.

Truly he was the Resurrection and the Life and I, Paul, who am the recipient of this resurrection and know whereof I speak and have knowledge of the fact that those inhabitants of the spirit world who have never received this resurrection are still in a condition of death so far as obtaining the Divine Love of the Father and the consciousness of immortality are concerned, and so I declare unto you what I have attempted to describe as the resurrection from the dead is the True Resurrection.

I will stop, as I have written a long time. So my dear brother, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Paul

St. Stephen Writes About the Invisible Church, Which is Composed of the Soul Worship of Men and Women Who Have Received Divine Love in Their Souls

January 17, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Stephen.

I merely want to say a word on the importance of the subject which Paul has written on the resurrection. This is one of the most vital truths in all the plan of God for the redemption of mankind, and for the preservation and existence of the church; and when I say church, I do not mean any church which claims to be the only Church of Christ, but that invisible church which is composed of the soul worship of men and women, who have received the Divine Love in their souls. It is not necessary that there be any formation of congregations and ceremonies of church worship as men understand it, but the true, sincere worship of men founded on a knowledge of the Divine Love and its possession in their souls.

While men on earth may never form large congregations and erect magnificent churches in which to worship the Father with the true soul worship and aspirations, yet when they come into the spirit world, they will find that the Master has established his church in the eternal Heavens, where none but the truly Christian can enter and partake of its glories and happiness.

Jesus is the head of that church here in our Celestial Heavens, as he should be of the church on earth. And as he must be when that church has for its members only those who have had the resurrection from sin and error and death of the soul into the knowledge of the Divine Love and the life everlasting. Jesus referred to this resurrection when he said: "I am the resurrection and the life," and not the resurrection of the body either physical or spiritual.

I see that you are anxious to have these truths come and I am also anxious and a coworker. I will now say good night and in doing so say with all my love, God Bless you and keep you in His care now and always.

Your brother in Christ,
St. Stephen

St. Paul Writes About the Truth of the Resurrection

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

I am here, St. Paul, of the New Testament.

I come tonight to tell you of a truth that is important for men to know and which you must place in your Book of Truths. I have written you before on my alleged writings as they are contained in the Bible and which, as I have said, were not written by me as they there appear.

I desire tonight to write for a short time on the subject of the "Resurrection," because, as I see, the church doctrine of the resurrection is founded more on what is ascribed to me than on the writings of the Gospels, though the latter also contain a basis for the doctrine.

I never said there would be a resurrection of the physical body nor of the individual clothed in any body of flesh, but my teachings were that man at death would rise in a spiritual body, and that not a new one made for the special occasion of his departure from the material body, but one that had been with him through life and that came into an individualized form when he first became a living being.

This spirit body is necessary to man's existence and is that part of him which contains his senses and is the seat of his reasoning powers. Of course, the organs of the physical are necessary for the utilization of these senses and without these organs, there could be no manifestations of the senses, which are inherent in the spirit body. Even if a man should lose the perfect workings of his physical organs of sight, yet the power of seeing would still exist in him, although he might not be able to realize that fact; and this same principle applies to the hearing and the other senses.

So when man loses his physical organs, which are necessary for him to see with, he is dead as to sight, just as dead as he ever becomes with reference to all the other organs of sense when the whole physical body dies; and were it possible to restore these physical organs that are necessary to enable him to see or hear, he would be able to see and hear just as he was before their loss. The restoration of these organs does not, of itself, bring him the power to see and hear, but merely enables the faculties of sight and hearing to again use the organs for the purpose of manifesting the powers, which are in and a part of the spirit body.

When the whole physical body dies, the spirit body at the very time of death becomes resurrected and with all these faculties of which I have spoken and thereafter continues to live free and unencumbered from the material body, which these organs being destroyed can no longer perform the objects of its creation. It becomes dead, and thereafter never has any resurrection as such material body, although its elements or parts do not die, but in the workings of God's laws enter upon other and new functionings, though never that of reuniting and forming again the body that has died.

So the resurrection of the body, as taught by me, is the resurrection of the spiritual body, not from death, for it never dies, but from its envelopment in the material form which had been visible as a thing of apparent life.

There is a law controlling the uniting of the two bodies and the functioning of the powers and faculties of the spirit body through the organs of the physical body that limits the extent of the operations of these faculties to those things that are wholly material - or which have the appearance of the material - and when I say material I mean that which is grosser or more compact than the spirit body. Thus, these faculties of sight of the spirit body can, through the organs of the material body, see what are called ghosts or apparitions as well as the more material things, but never, in this way, see things of pure spirit. And when it is said that men or women see clairvoyantly, which they do, it is not meant or is it a fact, that they see through the organs of the physical eyes; but on the contrary, this sight is one purely spiritual, and its workings are entirely independent of the material organs.

Now when this body - the material - dies, the spirit body becomes resurrected, as it is said, and free from all the limitations which its incarnation in the flesh has imposed, and it is then able to use all its faculties without the limitations or help of the physical organs and, as regards the sight, everything in nature, both material and spiritual, becomes the object of its vision; and that which the limitations of the material organs prevented its seeing and which to men is the unreal and non-existent becomes the real and truly existing.

This, in short, is what I meant by the resurrection of the body; and from this you will realize that the resurrection is not to take place at some unknown day in the future, but at the very moment when the physical body dies and, as the Bible says, in the twinkling of an eye. This saying of the Bible attributed to me, I did write and teach. This resurrection applies to all mankind, for all who have ever lived and died have been resurrected and all who shall live hereafter and die will be resurrected.

But this resurrection is not the "Great Resurrection" upon which, in my teachings, I declared the great truth of Christianity to be founded. This is not the resurrection of Jesus that I declared "without which is our faith as Christians vain." This is the common resurrection, applicable to all mankind of every nation and race, whether they have a knowledge of Jesus or not. And many times in many nations has it been demonstrated before the coming of Jesus, that men had died and appeared again as living spirits in the form of angels and men, and were recognized by mortal men as spirits who had a previous earth existence.

So I say, this is the resurrection common to all men; and the coming and death and resurrection of Jesus, as taught by the churches, did not bring the Great Resurrection to the knowledge or comfort of men and did not furnish the true foundation upon which the true Christian belief and faith rest.

Many of the infidels, agnostics and spiritualists assert and claim and truly that the resurrection of Jesus, as above referred to, was not a new thing and did not prove to humanity a future life any more convincingly than had been proved before his time by the experiences and observations of men and followers of other sects and faith, and of no faiths at all.

The great weakness of the church today is that they claim and teach as the foundation of their faith and existence this resurrection of Jesus as set forth above; and the result is, as is plainly and painfully apparent to the churches themselves, that as men think for themselves, and they are doing more than ever in the history of the world, they refuse to believe in this resurrection as sufficient to show the superiority of Jesus' coming and mission and teachings over those of other reformers and teachers who had preceded him in the world's history of faiths and religions. And as a further result, the churches are losing their adherents and believers. Christianity is waning and rapidly, and agnosticism is increasing and manifesting itself in the forms of free thought societies and secularism, etc.

Hence, you will see the necessity of making known again to mankind the true foundationstone of the real Christianity that the Master came to teach and which he did teach, but which was lost as his early followers disappeared from the scene of earthly action and practice and men of less spiritual insight and more material desires, with their ambition for power and dominion, became the rulers and guides and interpreters of the church.

There is a Resurrection, though, that the Master taught, and his apostles when they came into a knowledge of taught, and which I as a humble follower taught, which is vital to man's salvation and which is the true foundation of true Christianity; and which no other man, angel or reformer ever before taught or has since taught.

It is too late tonight to explain this Resurrection, but I will come again very soon and try to make it plain to you and to the world. I will now say good night and God bless you and keep you in His care.

Your brother in Christ,
Paul

* * * * * * * * * *

Jesus Confirms St. Paul's Message on the Resurrection   

I am here, Jesus.

I am pleased that Paul was able to write you so successfully as he did upon the two subjects, which I know will prove to be interesting to you and the one that Paul wrote about is very vital to the beliefs of man, for upon the question of the resurrection is founded the doctrine of what is called Christianity, and I must say that that foundation as explained by the orthodox churches and the commentators on the Bible is a very weak foundation and very vulnerable to the assaults of those who are not satisfied with the authority of the Bible or the explanations of its teachings as they now exist. Paul will finish this most important message, and let me impress upon you to make the effort to get in the best condition for receiving it correctly.

Well, I will not write more tonight, but only further say that I am with you in my love and influence and trying to help you in the ways of which we have written you. With all my love and blessings, I will say good night.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

St. Paul Writes on the "The Drama of St Paul" Sermon and Corrects the Inaccuracies

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

I am here, St. Paul.

Well, my brother, I was with you at the discourse on the "Drama of St. Paul," and was much interested in the subject matter, and also in the manner in which the speaker delivered his discourse. He was somewhat dramatic himself, and his elocution and intonation of the dialogues between several of the prominent personages in the drama and myself were very effective; but really they, the intonations, did not sound very familiar, because to me they possessed too much artificiality to represent correctly the real tones of voice and the feelings that possessed these persons and myself on those occasions. But, nevertheless, they were very effective and I have, no doubt, produced on the hearers the effect intended.

Some of the scenes depicted were very real, and some of them were not, for they never occurred. I well remember my experience on the way to Damascus, and the great change that it caused to my whole existence on earth. The brightness and the voice of Jesus were actualities, but the statement that I went blind is not true, for I was not blind but only affected for the time by the unusual light and, also, the shock that the voice of Jesus caused.

As Jesus said, my only blindness was that which covered my spiritual eyes at the time, and when I went into the town, the only blindness that I recovered from, in a way, was that which had kept my soul in darkness and caused me to persecute the followers of Jesus under the belief that I was doing the work which God had called me to do. So you see, that while the description as a whole of my life after my call was very interesting, yet it was not altogether correct.

Jesus has told you what my condition of soul development was and how I lacked the Love, which I afterwards, to some degree, possessed. And as he says, I was in my early ministry more of an intellectual Christian, than a Christian possessing the Great Divine Love of the Father; yet thanks to him, I continued to preach and believed as best I could until finally I became a redeemed child of God filled with His Love. I knew many things connected with and taught in the theology of the Jews, and especially of the Pharisees. I see now that in my writings, my conceptions of the truths of God, were flavored to a considerable extent by this knowledge which are of the Jewish theology.

While many things that I taught are true as I now see them, yet many things that the Bible says I wrote are not true, and I am not surprised that men will not accept them at this time. How I wish that I could review and rewrite the Epistles ascribed to me. How many seeming contradictions and unreasonable things would be made plain; but I cannot, except as I may through you declare the truth as I now see it, and I hope that the opportunities may come that I may do so.

Well, I will not write more tonight as you have written considerable, and others wish to write. I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Paul

St. Peter Writes That the Epistles in the Bible Are Untrue and He Never Wrote Such Conflicting Statements

October 26, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I write to corroborate what Paul said, both as to the errors of the author of the book that you have been reading, and also of the Bible, upon which he bases his arguments and conclusions.

There are some of the epistles credited to me and I did write some to the members of the church over which I had supervision, but the epistles as contained in the Bible are in many particulars untrue and conflicting with my beliefs, then and now, and I never wrote such conflicting statements. I never wrote that Jesus paid a ransom for mankind, or that his death on the cross saved men from the death which they inherited from Adam, or anything of the kind that insinuated that men were saved by any act of Jesus which satisfied the wrath of God, or as the author said satisfied Divine justice.

Justice was not an element in the Plan of man's salvation - only Love and Mercy - and the desire of the Father that man become reconciled to Him; that is, come to Him and receive the Great Gift of His Divine Nature. No blood shedding or death of Jesus or vicarious atonement could have accomplished this, for none of these things would affect the soul development of a man. The matter of soul development is an individual matter and can only be accomplished when man seeks for the Great Gift of Divine Love and receives it in his soul and develops it; then he becomes a partaker of the Divine Nature and one with the Father.

How deplorable that men will teach this erroneous doctrine of blood atonement. How very much harm it is doing to mankind and to spirits as well, for many spirits come into the spirit world with their beliefs so firmly established in this doctrine that they frequently remain for years in that condition of belief and consequent stagnation of their soul's progress and of their obtaining a knowledge of the truth.

This author, when he comes to the spirit world, will undoubtedly have to pay the penalty of his erroneous teachings, and very probably that penalty will be that he will have to unteach them, if I may use the word, to all the spirits who when on earth believed in and followed his teachings of these false doctrines.

But some day men will know the truth, and the truth will make them free. You must try your best to get in condition to take the messages which the Master desires to write so they can be published to the world.

I am your brother in Christ,
St. Peter

St. Paul Writes That the Bible Cannot Be Depended On As Containing Things That He and Others Wrote Because Their Original Writings Are Missing

October 26, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Paul.

Yes I am, and I want to say just a few words. The book on the "vicarious atonement" that you have been reading - about the ransom price and the blood of Jesus and the sacrifice on the cross - as to these things is all wrong, and you must not believe what it says.

Well, I know the Bible ascribes to me the teaching of these things, but I never did; and I tell you now, as I have before told you, that the Bible cannot be depended on as containing things that I wrote, for there are many additions to what I wrote and many omissions of what I wrote; and so with the others whose names are stated as the writers of the New Testament - many things contained in that book were never written by any of the alleged authors of the book.

The writings of any of us are not in existence and have not been for many centuries; and when they were copied and recopied, great additions and omissions were made, and, at last, doctrines and dogmas were interpolated that we never at anytime believed or wrote.

I have to say this, and I wish to emphasize my statement with all the conviction and knowledge of the truth that I possess: Jesus never paid any debt of man by his death or his blood or vicarious atonement. When Jesus came to earth, his mission was given him as he progressed in his soul development and not until his anointing was he wholly qualified to enter upon his mission or the work thereof.

The mission was twofold, namely: To declare to mankind that the Father had rebestowed the Divine Love which Adam or the first parents had forfeited; and, secondly, to show man the way by which that Love could be obtained so that the possessor of it would become a partaker of the Divine Nature and Immortal.

Jesus had no other mission than this and any statement by the preacher or teacher or church doctrines or dogmas or by the Bible, that his mission was other than I have stated, is untrue. He emphatically never claimed that he came to earth to pay any ransom for mankind, or to save them by his death on the cross, or to save them in any other way than by teaching them that the Great Gift or privilege of obtaining immortality had been bestowed upon them and that by prayer and faith, they could obtain it.

The author of the book is all wrong in his theories, but if you accept the statement of the Bible as true, he makes a very forcible presentation of the Scriptures. But the Scriptures do not contain the truth on this subject, except by the New Birth that Jesus taught; and that being so, his explanations and theories must fall to the ground. Some day and that very soon, he will come to the spirit world and have an awakening, which will cause him much suffering and remorse, because of his teachings of the false doctrines that his book contains.

I did not intend to write so long a letter when I commenced, but your questions required answers, and I could not give you answers in less space. But nevertheless if you shall obtain any benefit from what I have written, the time consumed will be compensated for. I must stop now but will come again sometime.

Your brother in Christ,
St. Paul

Jesus Writes That He Approves of the Church James Padgett is Attending as the People are Receiving God's Divine Love

August 31, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

I heard what Paul wrote, and I corroborate everything that he said, and add that these people are pursuing the true way to the inheritance, which I promised them while I was on earth. Their faith is wonderful and the fruits of its exercise is shown in the condition of their souls and in their lives.

Theirs is the soul conception of religion and of my truths, and while they may not with their intellects understand the philosophy of my teachings, yet, with their soul perceptions they have grasped the great foundation truth of salvation through the Divine Love of the Father.

Of course, they sing and proclaim that my blood saves them from sin, but this is merely the exercise of their mental conceptions, learned from the teachings and creeds of the churches; yet, they have grasped the great and only truth of salvation with the far more and certain knowledge that the awakening and filling of their souls by the Divine Love gives them.

How much to be wished for that all these churches of form and mental worship could realize that the only true worship of God is with the soul perceptions. Only with these perceptions that are developed by obtaining the Divine Love can we see God. Only by such development can we become pure and holy and at-one with the Father, and partakers of His Divine Nature.

I am glad that you attended this church (Church of the Holiness), and I advise you to go there often, for I tell you that the spirit of truth and Love is with these people to a very extended degree, and that because their souls are open to its inflowing and to its ministration.

I was with you again tonight, and so was the spirit of truth trying to open up your soul to its influence and to that which will cause your faith to increase and your trust in me to grow. No church will do you as much good as that and I advise you to attend. Of course, you will not have to believe in its creed, but only in the fact that the Holy Spirit is there in all its quickening power, as they sometimes sing.

So with all my love I say, goodnight.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

St. Paul Writes About the Truth of Perfection

August 31, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Paul.

I was with you tonight at the meeting, and heard what the young man said about perfection, and I agree entirely with his ideas and the application of the truth to the lives of human beings.

He had the correct conception of what perfection means, and when he said that perfection is a relative term, he spoke the exact truth. No man can expect to have the perfection of the Father in quantity, but he may in quality; for the spirit of truth that enters into the soul of a man in response to prayer and faith is a part of the Divine Nature of the Father, and the essence is the same, and the quality must be the same; but, of course, no man can obtain it to the extent of making him pure and holy as the Father is pure and holy.

Even we, who live in the high Celestial Heavens, have not that perfection which the Father has. But let men know that even while on earth they can obtain this inflowing of the Holy Spirit in their hearts to such an extent that sin and error will be entirely eradicated. This, I say, is possible, but few men attain to such a state of perfection, because the worldly affairs and natural appetites which belong to mortals are always interfering to prevent the makings of the spirit in men's souls so that perfection of this kind may take possession of them. But notwithstanding this great difficulty, and material desires of men, they should have this perfect ideal before them always and strive to obtain the possession of it.

I was much interested in the discourse not only because it was founded on a text attributed to me, but because of the right conception and the explanation made by the young man. I could see his soul and its workings, and I was glad to know that he possessed this Divine Love to an unusual degree and was fitted almost for a home in the Celestial Spheres.

You were benefited by what he said, and you felt the influence of the presence of the Holy Spirit at the meeting.

If the people of this church would understand that there is only one thing that saves them from their sins and makes them at-one with the Father, and that is the inflowing of the Divine Love into their souls, which was what Jesus meant when he told Nicodemus that he must be Born Again, they would easily see that their doctrine of holiness is not only a reasonable doctrine but one in accord with the truths of God; for as this Divine Love fills their souls, all sin and error must disappear.

Of course, this is a relative matter, for it depends upon how much of this Divine Love is in their souls to determine how much of sin or error exists. The more of the Divine Love, the less of sin, and on the contrary, the more of sin the less of the Divine Love. But I want to say with all the emphasis that I am capable of, that it is possible for a human being to obtain such a quantity of this Divine Love in his soul that sin will be entirely eradicated. This was the doctrine taught by Jesus, and this is the truth of God's Law of Love.

I know that the great majority of mankind do not believe this truth and think it foolishness, and that those who claim that they have received this Divine Love to a great degree are enthusiastic fanatics, and not worthy of credence, but I want to tell you that no greater truth was ever proclaimed by the Master; and sometime, in the not far distant future, many men who are now merely intellectual Christians will believe and embrace and experience this great truth.

You will find yourself much benefited by attending these meetings, and while there are some things in their creed to which you do not subscribe, yet, they have the foundation truth that the Divine Love of the Father can clear their souls from all sins, and make them perfect, to the extent that they receive that Love in their souls.

I will not write more tonight, but will say that the Holy Spirit, which conveys God's Love to man, is with these people in great power and fullness and manifests its workings in a real and irresistible manner, and God is blessing them and giving them that faith, which enables them to become overcomers and inheritors of immortality and homes in the Celestial Heavens.

So without taking up more of your time, I will say goodnight and God bless you.

Your brother in Christ,
St. Paul

St. Paul Writes That There Are Errors in His Epistles As Contained in the Bible

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

I am here, Saint Paul.

I desire to tell you that I am very anxious to disclose to you what are the true teachings of Jesus, and what errors my epistles, as contained in the Bible, possess. I know now that it may seem strange to you that errors should have gotten into my epistles, but there are several reasons for their entrance.

First, the epistles as they now appear - are not what I wrote. I mean many changes have been made in my writings. And second, when I wrote the epistles, I did not know as much of the truths of God as I do now and, thirdly, I was not such a believer in the teachings of Jesus as I am now.

These are sufficient reasons why my epistles should not be accepted as containing all the truths, or rather, that all they contain are truths. There are apparent contradictions in these writings and, if what is said were true, there would be no real contradictions.

I fully realize this great defect in my epistles and I have tried hard to impress those who attempt to explain my sayings, as to the real truth of what they attempt to explain, but with indifferent success.

And now I want to correct what is untrue or not in accord with the teachings of the Master, and the only way in which it can be done is by writing through you. Of course, I realize that you have a great work to do for the Master, and that most of your time and energy will be taken up by doing this work of the Master, and that every other communication must be subordinated to those of Jesus, yet, I believe that you will at times find time to take my messages.

Tonight, I will not attempt to write any message of these truths, and will only say that I am much interested in your work, and will try to help you all I can. So I must stop.

No. No blood saves from sin - only the Divine Love of the Father does this.

With much love I am your friend,
St. Paul

St. Paul Writes the Truth About the New Birth

August 20, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, St. Paul.

I merely want to write about the truth of the New Birth, because I speak, or rather it is written, that the blood of Jesus saves men from condemnation, and sin and death. This is not true, and I never wrote such declarations of what purports to be true.

Jesus did not save men by his death or sacrifice and, as I am informed now and learned when on earth, he never claimed that his blood or sacrifice saved men. And I hardly see how that could be so, because the blood did not have any efficacy to affect the condition or spiritual development of men, and his death could not help men to become redeemed from any condition of evil or defilement that they might be in and, hence, there can be no possible connection between his blood or sacrifice and the condition of men, whether good or bad.

I know that it is claimed that the blood of Jesus tended to appease the wrath of God towards men as did his death, but this presupposes that God had a wrath against men and that only blood and death could satisfy it. What a barbarous assumption!

God was never a God of wrath, but always of Love, and men can come to Him in reconciliation through Love only, and not through any sacrifice. Jesus never taught this doctrine of sacrifice and does not now, but repudiates it and says that it is a doctrine that is doing his cause and the salvation of mankind a great harm.

If men will only think for a moment, they will see that the only relation between God and man is that which arises from the soul's condition. God, as I said, is Love, and for man to be at-one with Him, man must become Love; I mean that his soul must be filled or permeated with this Love to such an extent, that it will become impossible for anything that is not of Love to be or remain a part of his soul.

I do not mean that it is necessary for men to obtain this Divine Love in order to live and enjoy a happiness which is far above the happiness that they have on earth, for that would not be true. God has given to man a natural love, which, when enjoyed in all its intended purity, is sufficient of itself to make men comparatively happy; but this love does not make man a part of God's oneness, or enable him to partake of the Divine Essence of the Father. And this oneness is absolutely necessary for men to become reconciled to God as Jesus taught.

So while the large majority of men may never become reconciled in the sense that I have mentioned, yet, they will be able to enjoy this inferior happiness in the spirit world, and to such a degree that no sin or evil will be permitted to mar it.

A small minority will become reconciled to God and enjoy the superior happiness which such reconciliation will bring to them. They will be in their nature and substance like the Father, having his Divine Essence and partaking of His immortality.

But this reconciliation can only be obtained by what is called the New Birth, which comes to men not by reason of any power or effort on their part only, but by the operations of the workings of the Holy Ghost, the instrument of God in bringing about this New Birth.

And, yet, man has his part to perform also, in this great renewal of his spiritual being. He must open his soul to the inflowing of this Divine Love, and must pray to the Father for the inflowing of the Holy Ghost, and with his prayers, must believe that the Father is waiting to bestow it.

Without the desire on the part of man to receive this Divine Love with prayer and faith, it will not come to him, for God never forces any human soul to a New Birth against its will.

I tell you this, because in my opinion this is the one great important truth of the mission of Jesus on earth, and the one that human beings should understand and try to comply with. I know now, as I never knew on earth, the full meaning of this truth, and I thank God all the time for His goodness and mercy.

Only those who receive this New Birth become Divine Angels, all other spirits remain mere spirits and subject to all the changes and conditions that belong to spirits; for there is nothing fixed as to those who may remain mere spirits any more than there was in the case of the first man and woman. We know now that changes may take place in the conditions of these spirits during the workings of God's plans.

Many men may, even when they know of the things that I have written, be content to remain mere spirits and live their spiritual lives in the happiness which their natural love gives them, but it seems to me that all men, if they will think a little and understandingly, will seek for the greater Love and happiness and immortality.

I wanted to write this tonight, for I see that some of the teachings of my Epistles may tend to lead men astray on this most important question as to what saves them from their sins and reconciles them to God. I will not write more tonight, but will come at times and write you in regard to the various spiritual truths of this Kingdom.

I will say goodnight.

Your brother in Christ,
Paul

Helen Writes That the Racial Appearance of Spirits is Removed with Soul Development

June 28, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Helen.

Well sweetheart, you are tired and must not write much tonight for it will make you feel bad. So when I tell you a few things, stop writing.

Well, I see you want to know if the spirits who wrote you last night, I mean the disciples and Solomon, really wrote you. I am glad to say that they did. They were whom they represented themselves to be and you must believe.

After he wrote, I had a communication with St. John and he told me that you are on the way to the kingdom. He is so loving and so beautiful and seems so filled with Love that I really could not help from loving him. But, yet, he is not so glorious as the Master. None are - he is the one altogether lovely. But St. John is a wonderful spirit and he is interested in your work and will no doubt write you at times.

I did not talk to St. Paul, as he left just as soon as he stopped writing, but I will sometime when he comes to you, as he says he will.

Neither did I talk to Solomon, because he departed as soon as he had finished. You may think him a wonderful spirit in appearance, because of the great number of years since he lived on earth. But the years make no difference in appearance. He looks as young as do your own band, though, more beautiful and loving. He is not a spirit who has any of his racial appearance, but as I have said, his appearance is caused by the development, no matter what race they may have belonged to on earth.

When a spirit who was a dark-skinned person on earth gets this soul development, he goes into that sphere which his development fits him for, and no distinction is made between spirits on account of what their race may have been on earth. When a spirit who was a dark-skinned person on earth acquires this soul development, the color that distinguished him on earth leaves him and he has the appearance which his soul development gives him. He is no longer a dark-skinned person but a redeemed spirit and has the color of one. So you see the color of a mortal on earth does not determine his color in the higher spheres.

In the earth plane, the earth color clings to the spirit and sometimes it is intensified. In fact, a purely white man may become very dark in that plane, and the dark-skinned people become darker. As I have said, the condition of the soul determines the appearance. So the Heaven of all races may be the same, provided the individuals of those races obtain this Divine Love in the same degree.

How blinded we are on earth to the fact that all humans are God's children, and all loved by Him just alike, no matter what their color or nationality may be.

Well, you must stop now. So with all my love,

I am your own true and loving
Helen

St. Paul, Saul of Tarsus, Writes That He Was Never Stricken Blind as the Bible States But Taught the Truths of the Master Jesus as His Disciple

June 28, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

Saul of Tarsus, now Paul of near Damascus.

Well, as you are so longing tonight for love and fellowship with the disciples of the Master, I thought that I would write you just a little to show that all the Master's disciples are in their living spiritual bodies, and I am alive and will never again die.

I have written many epistles, which are contained in the Bible, and some are nearly correct, and in them you will find my idea of God and of the Master. I never taught that the Master was God, and neither did I teach the doctrine of the vicarious atonement or the sufficiency of Jesus' blood to save a sinner from the sins of his earthly deeds. I never taught that any man's sins would be borne and the penalty for same be paid for by another - and wherever these doctrines are set forth in my epistles, they were not written by me.

I agree with John. God is Love - for this means that God is everything that is good and pure and lovely. Love is the fulfilling of the law and Love includes everything.

Yes. It (the thorn in the flesh) was my doubt at times that I was called to preach the truth of man's salvation as taught by Jesus. I say I doubted at times that I was called to do such work, for notwithstanding the Bible narrative of my conversion, I was not altogether convinced by the vision that I saw. I know now that it was a true vision and that I was called, but when on earth I had doubts at times, and this was my "besetting sin."

Well, as to that I am afraid that I will have to disillusion you, for I was never stricken blind or taken to the house of the prophet of God as the Bible says. My vision, though, was plain enough, and I heard the voice upbraiding me, and I believed, but at times there would come this doubt that I speak of.

Of course, from my epistles you would never think that I had any doubts, and I purposely abstained from making known my doubts and so called it my "besetting sin." But I thank God that I never let that doubt influence me to prevent me from giving the work my call, for if I had, I would have undoubtedly relapsed into the persecuting Jew. As I continued to preach, my faith grew stronger and after a while my doubt had left me, and in my latter years I had no doubt.

No, I am not in as high a sphere as is St. John, for I have not that Love that he has; but I am in a very high sphere and am the governor of the city in which I live. I am probably as much filled with this Love as any of the inhabitants of my city and, consequently, having been a disciple of the Master, they selected me for their governor.

No, Peter is not in the same sphere. He is in a higher one. Some are higher and some lower. Andrew is in my sphere, but does not live in my city.

I am glad that you called me tonight or rather, the influence of your love, as I am much interested in the work that you have to do for the Master. You will be able to do this work and it will be a great revolutionizing one when it is published.

Well, I will be glad to write you at times and will give my present opinion on some of the things I discussed in my epistles. So as I have written considerably. I will say goodnight and stop.

Your friend and brother,
St. Paul of the Bible