A.G. Riddle Writes that Heaven is a Real Place of Matieral Substance as well as a Condition of the Soul

February 27, 1920
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

Let me write a short time tonight as I see that you are anxious to hear from some of your friends in the spirit world.

I have not written for a long time, though, I have been desirous to do so, and tonight will say only a few words in reference to my progress and happiness in my condition as a Celestial Spirit, for I am now in the Celestial Heavens, and know the truth of many things that have been written you.

It is a little difficult for me to recite to you the wonders of these Heavens and the perfect happiness that is enjoyed by those spirits that have found their home and abiding place in the many mansions that Jesus spoke of while in the flesh. You must know that Heaven is a place as well as a condition, notwithstanding the fact that so many of the spiritualists teach that it is only a condition or state of the soul. No, this is not all of the truth, but is a great part of the truth; for the condition of the soul determines just what Heaven it shall occupy and find its harmony and happiness in; but the all-loving Father has provided that the soul shall have a place corresponding to its condition in which it may live and progress.

If Heaven were only a state of the soul, then it would not be a real, existing thing, with the substance and reality that the soul, even in its state of bliss, must have as a necessary accompaniment to the enjoyment of what the Father has provided for its true condition of living. Heaven, as a place, is real and independent of the state of the soul, though it is necessary for the soul to be in a corresponding state in order that it may enter into this Heaven and fully realize that it is a home suitable for its condition and enjoyment.

If it, I mean Heaven, were not a real objective and perceptible place, then the soul would be limited by its own condition that would be very narrow, as I may say, and confined to the limits of its own state and separated from the states of other souls and without the social intercourse that makes Heaven a place of such happiness and contentment. Every soul would then be in the condition of the ascetic in human life, and introspection and contemplation would be the source and only means of possible bliss, and knowledge of those things that are spoken of as beyond the heart of man to conceive of, and which are truly and certainly provided by the Father's Love for the continuous and never-ending progress of the soul towards higher and greater enjoyment would have no real, conscious existence in that soul.

As man, in his earth life in which condition of the soul determines his Heaven, is provided with those surroundings and material things that are intended to make him happy or miserable, so in the Heavens things material are provided to enable the soul of man to better enjoy its own condition. The things of Heaven are not all spiritual, as conceived by so many men, but are partly composed of the material of the universe and are so constituted and formed as to supply the desires and wishes of the soul with that which will satisfy the soul's longings for beauty and harmony and perfect enjoyment.

In the several Heavens are homes, real and substantial, suited to the states of the souls and differing as those states differ in their requirements. These material things are not subjective as so many mortals teach, but are objective as are things of earth and are the objects of sight and touch and of the other spiritual senses.

When I desire to go into a city, and indulge my desires, I find a city with streets and avenues and houses and other things that belong to a city, just as do you mortals of earth when you visit your cities; and so, when I desire to go into the country and enjoy the fields and hills and streams and gardens, they are all here, real and existing, and not the subjects of mere thoughts or state of my soul; and when I am absent from city or country, that city or country continues to exist in all its beauty and magnificence just as truly as when I am present.

Men must know that the soul in its Heavenly life requires these material things and has them, just as a soul when enveloped in a body of flesh requires the material things of earth. While the condition of the soul determined its place of living, yet that place is also existing and real and awaits the coming of that soul in a condition of harmony.

In these Heavens, there is nothing nebulous or impalpable or only a reflection or image of the soul's condition, but everything is real and substantial and lasting as the eternal hills; and when the soul finds a habitation, it is not the effect of its own condition, but a place already prepared for the habitation of that soul and in accord with its true condition. Otherwise, Heaven would be a place of confusion and of appearances and disappearances, with no stability or abiding qualities, and the many mansions, spoken of by Jesus as existing in his Father's house, would have no real, permanent being, but depending for their creation and existence upon the mere state of the soul. The mansions are there and change not, and whether or not they shall have occupants depends upon the harmony of souls in their correspondence with the harmony of God's Laws creating these mansions.

l have written you this short description of the Heavens, as based upon my knowledge and experience, devoid of speculation or metaphysical musings. I am glad that I could write you again.

I am very happy and know that the Divine Love of the Father is a thing real and transforming, and the all sufficient thing to create in the souls of men, and of spirits, that state which will enable them to have and enjoy the mansions of the Father in the Highest Heavens. I will not write more now. Good night.

Your friend and brother in Christ,
A.G. Riddle

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

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

I am here, Seleman.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Your friend,
Seleman

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Helen Confirms the Previous Spirit Writings

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

I am here, Helen.

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

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

With all my love, I am

Your own true and loving
Helen

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

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

I am here, Robert G. Ingersoll.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Your friend,
Robert G. Ingersoll

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Helen Confirms that Robert Ingersoll Will Soon See the Truth

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

I am here, Helen.

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

Your own true and loving,
Helen