John Writes on What is the Reason Mortals Will Not Seek the Love of the Father Rather than Endeavor to Believe in the Creeds and Sacraments of Churches

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

I am here, St. John.

I came tonight to write you a message that I consider very important, and as you are in good condition, I will endeavor to do so. In the first place, I desire to say that you are much more in that condition of soul development that enables us to make a rapport with you than you have been, and we are pleased that this is so for the greater development you have, the easier it is for us to express our ideas of the higher truths that we so much desire to disclose through you.

Well, the subject about which I wish to write is: "What is the reason that mortals will not seek the Love of the Father rather than endeavor to believe in the creeds and sacraments of the churches to which they belong or be affiliated with?"

Now it may appear to you that mortals, themselves, could better tell the reason of this preference and their actions in carrying out their preferences, but this supposition would not be true, because they do not really know. The knowledge of the truth, which they might obtain, and the supposed knowledge of truth, which so many of them content themselves with believing that they possess, are two and very different things.

And first, they believe that the creeds of their churches contain and disclose the truths as to God and as to mortals relationship to Him, and that if they follow these creeds, they will do that which is pleasing to God and in accordance with His will; and, hence, they rest satisfied to abide in such knowledge and seek no further to learn the truths of their being and of their salvation.

The creeds in most particulars do not contain the truths of these spiritual matters, for they are based upon error and, consequently, can have no truth as a superstructure, and from them mortals cannot learn the true knowledge of things spiritual. These creeds are man-made and are not based upon the real verities that can never be changed by creeds, nor any other thing that is the result of man's making.

But mortals do not know that these creeds do not disclose to them the truth, and this is one reason why they prefer to follow the teachings of the creeds and believe in them. They have nothing else to which they can resort, except the many statements of truth that the Bible contains; and even, though, they should resort to these statements, yet in their condition of mental and soul development, they would not be able to discover the truths as therein disclosed and to realize any distinction between such truths and what they believe are truths of their creeds.

For long years - generation after generation - these creeds have been accepted and believed in and proclaimed to be the truths by the respective churches to which the mortals may have belonged; and they have seen their parents and grandparents believing and resting in the assurance that the creeds contained the truth,and have seen these relatives live and die apparently happy in their beliefs; and, hence, they become satisfied to do that which those before them did and not question or search for the truth elsewhere, or even think that it can be found elsewhere. And as man is constituted, it may be said that such a position and condition is natural, and we or you who know the truth and also that the creeds do not contain the truth, should not be surprised.

Again, mortals prefer their creeds, because in the majority of the instances when a church or denomination has existed for a long time those who have, as I may say, inherited these beliefs in the creeds never consider for a moment, that they should do anything else than give an unquestioning belief to the teachings of their creeds and that in such belief they are in the truth and are not called upon to doubt or question. And thus growing up, as many do, in this belief, it becomes to them in many cases, a thing of mere form, having no vitality and creating in those who possess it, no special concern as to whether their belief is well founded or not. This belief saves them the trouble of exercising their minds to any comprehensive degree, and they say: "I am content with the creed of my church and do not desire to be troubled by questioning the same." And, hence, you will see, it is not difficult for them to make the preference for, in fact, there is no preference, but a condition of mind existing that has in it no room for the exercise of any preference.

And then again, this preference exists because of the social life of the people who believe in the creeds of the churches, for if they do not so believe, it is not permissible for them to become members of the churches, as the creed must be subscribed to no matter what else that may be vital is required to be believed in, or declared by the mortal who desires affiliation to be believed.

The church is the greatest of social centers in the lives of men, and its influence and power are very great and reaches further in the economy of social life than unthinking people may realize. So then when the applicant subscribes to the creed and becomes a member of the church, he becomes satisfied, usually, with his social position and his thoughts of spiritual truths are no longer plastic but fixed and as time goes by, he pays less attention to what the creeds may require of him, but in a kind of automatic manner acts upon them and rests satisfied. His position then becomes so comfortable and his mind free from efforts by the undoubting acceptance of the doctrines of his church creeds.

Of course, there are many exceptions to this condition existing among members of the churches, for while they subscribe to the creeds, yet their souls are not satisfied and go out in longings to the Father for His Love and many who possess this Love, though intellectually they do not know what it means. But with the majority, the preference is made because of the reasons that I have stated - and the difficulty will be great to cause an awakening from this satisfaction and feeling that in their beliefs lie the certainty of doing the Father's will and of their own salvation.

Now, while all this is true, yet these mortals do not realize that it is true just in the sense that I have described it, and the great work that lies before you and us is to cause the truths, which you are receiving to be presented to these people in such a way that they will not be satisfied to rest in the security of their old beliefs, but be persuaded to seek for the truth outside of the teachings of their creeds. And this I can say, that if these people will have such an awakening, and seriously and honestly seek for the truth, they will not hesitate to believe that they have been mistaken in their beliefs and will not be satisfied until they learn the truth.

I merely thought I would write this, because, while it is more of a subject pertaining to the merely living of men on earth, yet in its results and consequences, if the living be changed, the things spiritual will become the things of absorbing interest. These creeds shut out the truth, and men will never be able to find the truth until they shut out from their minds and souls the doctrines of the creeds.

I will not write more tonight. So with my love, I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
John

Cornelius Writes About the Prayer for Divine Love and the Great Number of Spirits Present at a Sermon

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

I am here, Cornelius.

I will write only a line or two, as I see from your condition of mind that you are anxious to study the prayer, that the Master wrote you last night. Well, I am not surprised for it is a wonderful prayer and one that, when earnestly breathed to the Father, will bring into your soul this Great Love, which is the only thing necessary to make you at-one with the Father.

As I have before told you, I am the happy possessor of this Love and know that it is real and causes the soul of the mortal and the spirit to partake of the essence of the Father, and in a manner become Divine itself.

I should like to write you a message tonight about some of the truths of the teachings of the apostles, which are very pertinent to the subject upon which the preacher discoursed tonight. I was present, as were also many other spirits - orthodox Presbyterians - and those that have been freed from their creeds and erroneous beliefs of earth life.

You might be surprised, if I should tell you the great number of spirits who listened to the sermon with interest and in expectation of learning something that they could accept as truth. The preacher had a vastly larger audience of spirits than of mortals and among a great many of the former, his teachings were received just as they were by the mortal hearers.

But I must not write more now. So hoping that I will soon have the opportunity to write, I will say, good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Cornelius (First Gentile Christian )

Luke Writes About the Doctrine of Original Sin and the Principle Involved in "Whosoever Will"

April 27, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Luke.

I have not written you for some time and desire to write a short message tonight on the subject of: "What is necessary for a man to do to recover the purity of soul and love that was possessed by the first parents - I mean as a man possessing the natural love only."

Well, in the first place, he should realize that he is a perfect creature of God, and that his sins and diseases are merely the results of his own thoughts and of qualities that have come to him down the long ages of his ancestors living on earth.

He need not suppose that these sins and desires are inherent in or a part of his creation, for they are not, but merely accretions that fastened themselves upon him by reason of the thoughts he has had and the resultant course of life he has led, and when he changes these thoughts, which will necessarily bring about a change in his manner of living, he will find that he can progress toward the condition of the perfect man.

I know that many of these thoughts are so deep seated that they seem almost a part of his very nature and can only be eradicated by the death of his physical body; but this is not true, for man, even while in the full vigor of his manhood and possessed with all the appetites and desires, which arise from the perverted indulgence of these desires either on the part of himself or on the part of those from whom he is said to have inherited them, may relieve himself from these desires and become a man having only the thoughts of good and desires for those things, which are in harmony with the nature of his perfect creation.

This I know seems to man a thing impossible and so thinking, he does not try to accomplish what I say he may accomplish and to become free from these sins and unnatural appetites. The almost universal belief in original sin has caused men - all along the ages - to think that such a task is hopeless, and that they are thinking and acting only in accordance with the appetites and desires that God has implanted in their natures, and that so long as they indulge these thoughts and desires in a moderate or respectable way, they are not doing that which is contrary to God's Will or to their own nature.

But this doctrine of original sin is a mocking, damnable lie, and the sooner man realizes the fact that it is a fraud and deceit, the sooner he will be able to get rid of those things, which have placed him in his present condition and held him there bound, as it were, hand and foot. This supine submission to this old and ever recurring belief is the great thing that prevents man from starting to progress towards the attainment of that condition, which is purity and health and the perfect man.

Man must decline and no longer submit to this belief, which, I am sorry to say, is fostered by the teachings of the orthodox churches in order to sustain and make forcible their creeds and dogmas, and to show to man that he is not to be considered worthy of the mercy of the Father and cannot possibly obtain that mercy and be relieved from the great wrath and punishment that God has prepared for him, unless he believes and acknowledges that he is a dependent and lost man, unworthy of the Father's favor, or the help of the instrumentalities which the Father uses to assist men in regaining their lost estate.

If men would only think, and in thinking realize that they are dear children of the Father and His highest creation, and that He prizes them above all His creatures and wants them to know that they are beings of such wonderful qualities and possibilities, they would then have come to them an overpowering and convincing sense of what they really are, and of how necessary it is for them to assert their rights as such exalted creatures of the Father and would realize that they are masters of sin and disease, for they are the creators of the same.

When they shall assume such position and become possessed of such knowledge, they will find that they have a wonderful power as creatures of the Father, they will realize that they are masters of sin that must be gotten rid of.

Let men for a moment think again and thinking, know that God does not desire His greatest creature to become or be less than the perfect being that He created. He is not flattered nor does He have any pleasure in the thought that man is degraded and fallen from His perfect creation, and that in order to rise again he, man, must believe that God may show His power in rescuing him from his low and hopeless condition. No, God is not pleased by man assuming such an attitude, nor does He need any such helpless condition of man that He may show His power or gratify what the teachings of these orthodox imply, His vanity, which He has not.

In this particular, man must work out his own salvation, but it will be a difficult task so long as he continues to believe and act upon that belief, that he is a creature of original sin, and that as God in the beginning failed to make him the perfect man, so now, only God can remedy what He failed to provide in His creation, and that man of himself can do nothing; that all he has to do is to wait until God is pleased to recreate him and thereby take from his very nature this great curse of the original sin. See the great fatality of such belief and how it tends to make man a slave of and obedient to this false belief in this blight of original sin?

God gave to man, in his creation, the great power of will and the right to its unlimited exercise, subject only to the penalties of a wrongful exercise; and by the exercise of that will, man created sin and disease and became depraved and fallen, and the possessor of false beliefs as to the perfection of his nature. By the exercise of that will, man - himself - must redeem himself from this condition of depravity and false belief and again become the perfect man - God's wholly perfect creation.

As man was in the beginning the perfect son of God, and by his own will created his own and only devil, so must he - by this same power - kill this devil and again become the perfect son. He must believe and declare and show the sincerity of his beliefs by his acts and living, that he is a perfect son of the Father needing no new creation.

This I have written to show what man was in the beginning, and what he really and truly is now; although covered with sin and disease and false beliefs. To recover this lost estate or better, condition, he will find that by searching for and learning and acting upon many of the moral precepts of the Bible and of other so-called sacred writings, he will be greatly helped and strengthened in his efforts. But above all, let him understand and believe with the certainty of knowledge, that he is God's highest and most perfect creation.

Now, from what I have said, it must not be inferred that man is his own God, and has not - and needs not - any tender, loving Father, who is interested in him and always ready to help him whenever he earnestly and in sincerity asks the help of that Father. Always is man dependent upon God; but that dependence is not recognized by God, unless man first recognizes it and by his longings and thoughts shows to the Father that he needs His help.

This may seem unbelievable, but man was created so independent in his great will power, as regards the dualities of thought and desire both spiritual and material, that God never interferes to compel. The principle involved in "whosoever will" must be exercised by man before the Father will intervene. But when it is exercised, He does intervene and never refuses or fails to answer the call of the sincere cry of man for help.

And God does help man in his recovery from the state of false beliefs and degradation, that I have mentioned. His Love overshadows men, and His instrumentalities are always ready and waiting to answer the call upon Him for His help in assisting them out of their condition of sin, disease and false beliefs; for, as I have elsewhere written you, in God's universe there must be perfect harmony, and the present man, so far as his own creation of inharmony is concerned, is not in that harmony. Ultimately, man, all men, will become again the perfect man.

Of course, you will understand that what I have written does not apply to the redeemed sons of God who receive the New Birth and become partakers of the Divine Nature of the Father, for in their case, the perfect man is absorbed in the Divine Angel.

I have written longer than I intended, but as the theme is an interesting as well as important one, I thought it best to write just as I have. I will now say good night and leave with you my love and blessings.

Your brother in Christ,
Luke