February 2, 1920
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Scott.
Let me write. I am your old friend, Scott, who died a few days ago. I know now what death means and how we are punished for the things done on earth, and I am suffering my share of the penalty. I come to you because you had told me on earth of the future of men who die, and I am now convinced that what you told me is true, although I know very little of what my fate here is. I only know that I am living and suffering and beyond that I do not know anything.
I am glad that I can come to you and hope that you will help me, if possible. I have written (Eugene) Morgan and he promised to help me, and if you only knew how much I need help, you would not hesitate one moment, for I believe that you are my friend.
I realize that I am not in condition to know anything of the truths of religion and there does not seem to be anyone here to help me. How strange that my folks have not met me, for I believe that they must be interested in me, if any dead person can be.
I am tired and must stop.
Showing posts with label death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label death. Show all posts
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Helen Writes About the Conversation Mr. Padgett had with Dr. Arbelee, Who Was in a Condition of Death
April 23, 1919
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Helen.
Well my dear, I see that you have done a good work tonight towards one poor soul (Dr. Arbelee), who is in a condition of death, and that your conversation will have an effect upon his soul that will lead him to wish for the Love of the Father. He was much impressed by your talk and many of his spirit friends were present and listened to your explanation of the Love and the way to obtain it and were somewhat astonished at your doctrine. They are living in the belief that the Christianity, as explained by the teachers and ministers of the churches, leads them into and were much affected by the teachings which you expounded. They are very anxious to learn the way and some of them accompanied you home and listened to the conversation of yourself and the Doctor.
Some are here now and desire to write, but we tell them that it is too late, and that if they come tomorrow night they shall have the opportunity to write. The sick man's father was among the spirits who were present and is very anxious to write to his son and corroborate what you said to him and tomorrow night he desires to write you, so you must be prepared to let him write.
Well, we were present and the drawing power that you experienced came from the exercise of the desires of many of these friends of the sick man to communicate with you, and if we had permitted, they would have taken possession of you and made their wishes known. But we did not think it best for them to control you, and so we told them and they desisted.
The power which you felt going out of you was directed towards the sick man, and if it had continued he would have realized that there was some power or influence which was working on him for his benefit; and as it is, I think that he will feel the results of the power on his physical condition and find himself feeling much better. He is paralyzed and needs the help of the spirits to bring about his cure, and some of them will be with Dr. Stone when he next treats the man, and he will realize that some unseen power is helping him. I will not write more of the occurrence now, but let the spirits themselves tell you of the scene. So do not try to get more messages now, as you need your strength reserved.
I am happy to tell you that you are in better condition tonight to receive our messages and your worries have left you to a large extent, and if you will only listen to and take the advice that John gave you tonight, you will soon feel yourself again and become suited to do the work that is before you.
We all love you very much and are trying to help you in every way. The spirit who advises you in your material affairs was here tonight desiring to write you, but has now left. He said, though, that he is of the same opinion but that you must be a little careful in your estimate of the market, as it may not reach the high that he first told you of, that there has been a large volume of the stock sold or bought lately and that the climax may come a little earlier than he at first thought. He will come tomorrow night and speak for himself.
Baby (Nita) wants to write, and I told her that soon she shall do so. I will not write more now. So sweetheart, say good night and go to bed.
Your own true and loving,
Helen
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Helen.
Well my dear, I see that you have done a good work tonight towards one poor soul (Dr. Arbelee), who is in a condition of death, and that your conversation will have an effect upon his soul that will lead him to wish for the Love of the Father. He was much impressed by your talk and many of his spirit friends were present and listened to your explanation of the Love and the way to obtain it and were somewhat astonished at your doctrine. They are living in the belief that the Christianity, as explained by the teachers and ministers of the churches, leads them into and were much affected by the teachings which you expounded. They are very anxious to learn the way and some of them accompanied you home and listened to the conversation of yourself and the Doctor.
Some are here now and desire to write, but we tell them that it is too late, and that if they come tomorrow night they shall have the opportunity to write. The sick man's father was among the spirits who were present and is very anxious to write to his son and corroborate what you said to him and tomorrow night he desires to write you, so you must be prepared to let him write.
Well, we were present and the drawing power that you experienced came from the exercise of the desires of many of these friends of the sick man to communicate with you, and if we had permitted, they would have taken possession of you and made their wishes known. But we did not think it best for them to control you, and so we told them and they desisted.
The power which you felt going out of you was directed towards the sick man, and if it had continued he would have realized that there was some power or influence which was working on him for his benefit; and as it is, I think that he will feel the results of the power on his physical condition and find himself feeling much better. He is paralyzed and needs the help of the spirits to bring about his cure, and some of them will be with Dr. Stone when he next treats the man, and he will realize that some unseen power is helping him. I will not write more of the occurrence now, but let the spirits themselves tell you of the scene. So do not try to get more messages now, as you need your strength reserved.
I am happy to tell you that you are in better condition tonight to receive our messages and your worries have left you to a large extent, and if you will only listen to and take the advice that John gave you tonight, you will soon feel yourself again and become suited to do the work that is before you.
We all love you very much and are trying to help you in every way. The spirit who advises you in your material affairs was here tonight desiring to write you, but has now left. He said, though, that he is of the same opinion but that you must be a little careful in your estimate of the market, as it may not reach the high that he first told you of, that there has been a large volume of the stock sold or bought lately and that the climax may come a little earlier than he at first thought. He will come tomorrow night and speak for himself.
Baby (Nita) wants to write, and I told her that soon she shall do so. I will not write more now. So sweetheart, say good night and go to bed.
Your own true and loving,
Helen
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Jesus Writes about After Death, the Judgment. What it is and what it is not.
February 25, 1918
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
I am here and desire to write a few lines in reference to the "Great Day of Judgment," of which the preacher and teachers of theological things write so often. I know that the Bible, or rather some of the books, lay great stress upon this day when, as they claim, God will pour out His vials of wrath upon the ungodly and condemn them to an eternity of punishment.
There is, as you know, very great and diverse opinions among these learned men as to what is the meaning and significance of this day of judgment, and when, in a chronological point of view, it will take place; and all these varied opinions have many students and teachers who embrace and proclaim them to the world as being true and free from doubt.
Well, it is certain that all men must die and there will come the judgment, and that which follows the death is just as certain as is the death itself, and just as reasonable as is the following of any cause by an effect. So men should have no difficulty in believing in the judgment as a fact that cannot be avoided, just as death cannot be avoided.
But the word and the fact, "judgment," when used as an effect or following of death, may have many meanings in the opinions and understandings of many men, depending upon what men may believe as to things that are called religious or scientific or philosophical.
To the ultra-orthodox this term "judgment" means and necessarily comprehends the active pronouncement of a sentence by God, because of and determined by their lives and thoughts while living in the mortal life, irrespective of any of His general laws and the workings thereof. God is Himself the judge - personal and present - and by Him in this capacity are each man's life and works known and digested and made the basis of the sentence that He must pronounce in each individual case. God keeps the record of all of these acts of men, or, if man is conceded to be his own record-keeper, his records are, or will be, at the time of the great assemblage for judgment, opened up or brought into view so that nothing can be lost; and then, upon this record men will be sent to eternal happiness or to everlasting punishment or, as some believe, to destruction or annihilation.
Others, not orthodox, who believe in the survival of the soul and the continuing memories of the acts and thoughts of men, teach that the judgment will follow death as a natural consequence of the operations of the Law of Cause and Effect; and the effect cannot be escaped from until, in some way, there comes to the consciousness of men a realization that the effect in their suffering has satisfied the cause and that there is nothing mysterious or unnatural in the appearance and workings of the judgment. They do not believe that God by any special interposition or personal punishing will pronounce the judgment, or determine the merits or demerits of the one called to judgment.
Besides these views, there are others extant and believed in, but the two that I have mentioned are principle ones and are sufficient to show what the large majority of thinking or rather believing men conclude the term judgment as used in the Bible should mean or be understood to mean.
Well, the judgment of the human soul is an important accompaniment of the human life, both in the flesh and in the spirit world, and as regards the questions and punishments, hardly anything demands more of the thought and consideration of men, for it is a certainty that beliefs, true or false, he cannot avoid them. Judgment as certainly follows what men call death as does night the day, and no philosophy or theological dogmas or scientific determinations can alter the fact, or in any way change the character or exact workings of this judgment.
But judgment is not a thing belonging exclusively to the after-death period or condition, for it is present and operating with men from the time that they become incarnated in the human until they become disincarnate, and thereafter continuously until the causes of effects have been satisfied and there remains nothing to be judged, which happy ending is also a fact - for all men are dependent upon their progress towards the conditions of harmony with the laws that make effective as well as pronounce the judgments. While on earth these laws operate and continuously man is being judged for the causes that he starts into existence, and the after-death judgment is only a continuation of the judgment received by men while on earth.
Of course, men may not know this. These judgments, or the effects thereof, become more intensified after men have gotten rid of the influences of the flesh existence, and they become spirits having only the spirit qualities. And because of this fact, men must understand and try to realize that the expression: "After death, the judgment," has a greater significance and is of more vital importance than the saying that: "Judgment is with men all during their mortal lives."
After death, the causes of the in-harmony with the law becomes more pronounced and appear in the true meaning and force and, consequently, as this is true, the effects become more intensified and understood, and men suffer more and realize the darkness, and sometimes the gross darkness, that these effects produce. The in-harmony appears in its unclothed and unhidden reality, and the Law's workings bring to men the exact penalties that their violations demand.
Man is his own bookkeeper, and in his memory are recorded all the thoughts and deeds of his earth life that are not in accord with the harmony of God's Will, which is expressed or manifested by His Laws. The judgment is not the thing of a day or a time, but is never ceasing so long as there exists that upon which it can operate, and it diminishes in proportion as the causes of in-harmony disappear.
God is not present in wrath demanding as does the human who believes himself to have been injured demanding reparation by the one causing the injury. No, the Father is present only in love, and as the soul of the one undergoing the penalty, which his own deeds and thoughts have imposed upon him comes more in harmony with the Father's Will, He, as you mortals say, is pleased. Never an angry God rejoicing in the satisfaction of a penalty being paid by one of His erring children, but always a loving Father rejoicing in the redemption of His children from a suffering that a violation of the laws of harmony exacts with certitude.
Then, as I say, the judgment day is not a special time when all men must meet in the presence of God, and have their thoughts and deeds weighed in the balance, and then, according as they are good or evil, have the sentence of an angry, or even just God pronounced upon them. The judgment day is every day, both in the earth life of man and in life in the spirit, where the Law of Compensation is working. In the spirit world, time is not known and every breathing is a part of eternity, and with every breathing so long as the Law requires, comes the judgment, continued and unsatisfied, until man, as a spirit reaches that condition of harmony, so that for him no longer the Law demands a judgment.
But from what I have written, men must not suppose, or beguile themselves into that state of belief that will cause them to think that because there is no special day of judgment when God will pronounce His sentence, the judgment, therefore, is not so much to be dreaded or shunned. No, this state of thinking will palliate only for the moment, for the judgment is certain, and is and will be no less to be dreaded, because the immutable law demands exact restoration instead of an angry God.
No man who has lived and died has escaped, and no man who shall hereafter die can escape this judgment unless he has, in a way provided by the Father in His love, become in harmony with the laws requiring harmony. "As a man soweth so shall he reap" is as true as is the fact that the sun shines upon the just and the unjust alike. Memory is man's storehouse of good and evil, and memory does not die with the death of the man's physical body, but on the contrary, becomes more alive - all alive - and nothing is left behind or forgotten when the spirit man casts off the encumbrance and the benumbing and deceiving influences of the only body of man that was created to die.
Judgment is real, and men must come to it face-to-face, and want of belief or unbelief or indifference or the application to mens lives of the saying "sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" will not enable men to avoid the judgment or the exactions of its demands.
There is a way, though, in which men may turn the judgment of death into the judgment of life - in-harmony into harmony - suffering into happiness - and judgment itself into a thing to be desired. Elsewhere we have written of this way open to all men, and I will not attempt to describe it here. I have written enough for tonight. You are tired and must not be drawn on further. So with my love I will say good night.
Your brother and friend,
Jesus
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
I am here and desire to write a few lines in reference to the "Great Day of Judgment," of which the preacher and teachers of theological things write so often. I know that the Bible, or rather some of the books, lay great stress upon this day when, as they claim, God will pour out His vials of wrath upon the ungodly and condemn them to an eternity of punishment.
There is, as you know, very great and diverse opinions among these learned men as to what is the meaning and significance of this day of judgment, and when, in a chronological point of view, it will take place; and all these varied opinions have many students and teachers who embrace and proclaim them to the world as being true and free from doubt.
Well, it is certain that all men must die and there will come the judgment, and that which follows the death is just as certain as is the death itself, and just as reasonable as is the following of any cause by an effect. So men should have no difficulty in believing in the judgment as a fact that cannot be avoided, just as death cannot be avoided.
But the word and the fact, "judgment," when used as an effect or following of death, may have many meanings in the opinions and understandings of many men, depending upon what men may believe as to things that are called religious or scientific or philosophical.
To the ultra-orthodox this term "judgment" means and necessarily comprehends the active pronouncement of a sentence by God, because of and determined by their lives and thoughts while living in the mortal life, irrespective of any of His general laws and the workings thereof. God is Himself the judge - personal and present - and by Him in this capacity are each man's life and works known and digested and made the basis of the sentence that He must pronounce in each individual case. God keeps the record of all of these acts of men, or, if man is conceded to be his own record-keeper, his records are, or will be, at the time of the great assemblage for judgment, opened up or brought into view so that nothing can be lost; and then, upon this record men will be sent to eternal happiness or to everlasting punishment or, as some believe, to destruction or annihilation.
Others, not orthodox, who believe in the survival of the soul and the continuing memories of the acts and thoughts of men, teach that the judgment will follow death as a natural consequence of the operations of the Law of Cause and Effect; and the effect cannot be escaped from until, in some way, there comes to the consciousness of men a realization that the effect in their suffering has satisfied the cause and that there is nothing mysterious or unnatural in the appearance and workings of the judgment. They do not believe that God by any special interposition or personal punishing will pronounce the judgment, or determine the merits or demerits of the one called to judgment.
Besides these views, there are others extant and believed in, but the two that I have mentioned are principle ones and are sufficient to show what the large majority of thinking or rather believing men conclude the term judgment as used in the Bible should mean or be understood to mean.
Well, the judgment of the human soul is an important accompaniment of the human life, both in the flesh and in the spirit world, and as regards the questions and punishments, hardly anything demands more of the thought and consideration of men, for it is a certainty that beliefs, true or false, he cannot avoid them. Judgment as certainly follows what men call death as does night the day, and no philosophy or theological dogmas or scientific determinations can alter the fact, or in any way change the character or exact workings of this judgment.
But judgment is not a thing belonging exclusively to the after-death period or condition, for it is present and operating with men from the time that they become incarnated in the human until they become disincarnate, and thereafter continuously until the causes of effects have been satisfied and there remains nothing to be judged, which happy ending is also a fact - for all men are dependent upon their progress towards the conditions of harmony with the laws that make effective as well as pronounce the judgments. While on earth these laws operate and continuously man is being judged for the causes that he starts into existence, and the after-death judgment is only a continuation of the judgment received by men while on earth.
Of course, men may not know this. These judgments, or the effects thereof, become more intensified after men have gotten rid of the influences of the flesh existence, and they become spirits having only the spirit qualities. And because of this fact, men must understand and try to realize that the expression: "After death, the judgment," has a greater significance and is of more vital importance than the saying that: "Judgment is with men all during their mortal lives."
After death, the causes of the in-harmony with the law becomes more pronounced and appear in the true meaning and force and, consequently, as this is true, the effects become more intensified and understood, and men suffer more and realize the darkness, and sometimes the gross darkness, that these effects produce. The in-harmony appears in its unclothed and unhidden reality, and the Law's workings bring to men the exact penalties that their violations demand.
Man is his own bookkeeper, and in his memory are recorded all the thoughts and deeds of his earth life that are not in accord with the harmony of God's Will, which is expressed or manifested by His Laws. The judgment is not the thing of a day or a time, but is never ceasing so long as there exists that upon which it can operate, and it diminishes in proportion as the causes of in-harmony disappear.
God is not present in wrath demanding as does the human who believes himself to have been injured demanding reparation by the one causing the injury. No, the Father is present only in love, and as the soul of the one undergoing the penalty, which his own deeds and thoughts have imposed upon him comes more in harmony with the Father's Will, He, as you mortals say, is pleased. Never an angry God rejoicing in the satisfaction of a penalty being paid by one of His erring children, but always a loving Father rejoicing in the redemption of His children from a suffering that a violation of the laws of harmony exacts with certitude.
Then, as I say, the judgment day is not a special time when all men must meet in the presence of God, and have their thoughts and deeds weighed in the balance, and then, according as they are good or evil, have the sentence of an angry, or even just God pronounced upon them. The judgment day is every day, both in the earth life of man and in life in the spirit, where the Law of Compensation is working. In the spirit world, time is not known and every breathing is a part of eternity, and with every breathing so long as the Law requires, comes the judgment, continued and unsatisfied, until man, as a spirit reaches that condition of harmony, so that for him no longer the Law demands a judgment.
But from what I have written, men must not suppose, or beguile themselves into that state of belief that will cause them to think that because there is no special day of judgment when God will pronounce His sentence, the judgment, therefore, is not so much to be dreaded or shunned. No, this state of thinking will palliate only for the moment, for the judgment is certain, and is and will be no less to be dreaded, because the immutable law demands exact restoration instead of an angry God.
No man who has lived and died has escaped, and no man who shall hereafter die can escape this judgment unless he has, in a way provided by the Father in His love, become in harmony with the laws requiring harmony. "As a man soweth so shall he reap" is as true as is the fact that the sun shines upon the just and the unjust alike. Memory is man's storehouse of good and evil, and memory does not die with the death of the man's physical body, but on the contrary, becomes more alive - all alive - and nothing is left behind or forgotten when the spirit man casts off the encumbrance and the benumbing and deceiving influences of the only body of man that was created to die.
Judgment is real, and men must come to it face-to-face, and want of belief or unbelief or indifference or the application to mens lives of the saying "sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" will not enable men to avoid the judgment or the exactions of its demands.
There is a way, though, in which men may turn the judgment of death into the judgment of life - in-harmony into harmony - suffering into happiness - and judgment itself into a thing to be desired. Elsewhere we have written of this way open to all men, and I will not attempt to describe it here. I have written enough for tonight. You are tired and must not be drawn on further. So with my love I will say good night.
Your brother and friend,
Jesus
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Grace Stanhope Writes of Her Experience After Passing Over Due to Giving Birth to Her Baby
December 21, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
Come to the bridal chamber - death.
Come to the young mother, when she feels for the first time her newborn's breath.
And so death came to me, when I was but a young bride and lived in expectation of a new, loving being that would be part of my flesh and died when my baby came.
As life came to it, death came to me, and we missed each other at the very moment that I heard its first cry.
And when I came to life in the spirit world, I was bitter and thought God to be so heartless and cruel to take me from my baby and was so unhappy and wanted to die over again.
I would like to tell you of my misery and gloom and hatred of my very God, whom I had believed in and thought that I loved, but I cannot now. But this I must say, that my unhappiness was for a short time only, for bright spirits came to me and comforted me and assured me that I was not separated from my baby, but could go to my baby and watch over him and give him my mother's love, and so I did, and am now doing, for my baby - who is now a man - and still I am with him, and I know that I have been a greater blessing to him as his spirit mother, than I would have been had I remained his mortal mother.
I write this to comfort mothers who have to leave their babies as they come into the earth life, and to assure them that, though they disappear from the visions of their loved ones, yet they can always be with them - close and in deep rapport with them and love.
Death comes as an enemy, but when recognized, only a friend appears. Mothers, thank God for such a death and the great consolation it brings to the departing and to those left behind.
Goodbye,
Grace Stanhope
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
Come to the bridal chamber - death.
Come to the young mother, when she feels for the first time her newborn's breath.
And so death came to me, when I was but a young bride and lived in expectation of a new, loving being that would be part of my flesh and died when my baby came.
As life came to it, death came to me, and we missed each other at the very moment that I heard its first cry.
And when I came to life in the spirit world, I was bitter and thought God to be so heartless and cruel to take me from my baby and was so unhappy and wanted to die over again.
I would like to tell you of my misery and gloom and hatred of my very God, whom I had believed in and thought that I loved, but I cannot now. But this I must say, that my unhappiness was for a short time only, for bright spirits came to me and comforted me and assured me that I was not separated from my baby, but could go to my baby and watch over him and give him my mother's love, and so I did, and am now doing, for my baby - who is now a man - and still I am with him, and I know that I have been a greater blessing to him as his spirit mother, than I would have been had I remained his mortal mother.
I write this to comfort mothers who have to leave their babies as they come into the earth life, and to assure them that, though they disappear from the visions of their loved ones, yet they can always be with them - close and in deep rapport with them and love.
Death comes as an enemy, but when recognized, only a friend appears. Mothers, thank God for such a death and the great consolation it brings to the departing and to those left behind.
Goodbye,
Grace Stanhope
Friday, February 14, 2014
Robert G. Ingersoll Writes that Life and Death are Complementary
March 10, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, R.G. Ingersoll.
Tonight I am a very happy spirit, and one who realizes that: "It is not all of life to live, or yet of death to die," for life and death are mere incidents in the existence of the immortal soul's career through eternity. Life on earth is but a short breathing of the soul in bondage, yet prized so highly by mortals; and death of the physical is the liberating of that soul from its bondage, and yet, men fear and shun it and, if possible, would never let it come to them.
This may be said to be natural and not to be wondered at, and all because mortals do not know that life and death are brothers working for the good of humanity, the former giving them the opportunity to seek and possess happiness or misery, and the latter ending that opportunity in this, that happiness may be increased without having to undergo the retarding influence that life on earth throws around mortals and misery, or rather the cause thereof, prevented from increasing. So you see, life and death are complementary, the one positive and the other negative, but each the great helpful friend of the human soul.
You wonder: "Who I am?" And I wonder that: "I am what I am, and not what I was."
My friend, life has continued with me in greater and more enlarged abundance, until now I am the possessor of that life which Jesus came to earth to declare to be the heritage of every mortal who should seek it. My friend, death has left me, and in leaving me took with him all the possibilities of increased causes of unhappiness in my soul. The results or effects of the causes that existed in my soul while in the mortal life came with me in more acute and overpowering abundance; but no new or additional causes to produce additional effects came with me. Death took them with himself when he departed from me forever.
Life and Death - the friends of mortals - each to be welcomed! The one, the friend for eternity; the other, the friend for only a moment, but what a friend!
I intended tonight to write you a long and (as I think) important message relating to the real world of spirits, but thought it best not to do so and, hence, gave you the little impersonal thoughts with reference to my friends and your friends. I will come soon. Good night and God bless you.
Your brother in Christ,
R.G. Ingersoll
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, R.G. Ingersoll.
Tonight I am a very happy spirit, and one who realizes that: "It is not all of life to live, or yet of death to die," for life and death are mere incidents in the existence of the immortal soul's career through eternity. Life on earth is but a short breathing of the soul in bondage, yet prized so highly by mortals; and death of the physical is the liberating of that soul from its bondage, and yet, men fear and shun it and, if possible, would never let it come to them.
This may be said to be natural and not to be wondered at, and all because mortals do not know that life and death are brothers working for the good of humanity, the former giving them the opportunity to seek and possess happiness or misery, and the latter ending that opportunity in this, that happiness may be increased without having to undergo the retarding influence that life on earth throws around mortals and misery, or rather the cause thereof, prevented from increasing. So you see, life and death are complementary, the one positive and the other negative, but each the great helpful friend of the human soul.
You wonder: "Who I am?" And I wonder that: "I am what I am, and not what I was."
My friend, life has continued with me in greater and more enlarged abundance, until now I am the possessor of that life which Jesus came to earth to declare to be the heritage of every mortal who should seek it. My friend, death has left me, and in leaving me took with him all the possibilities of increased causes of unhappiness in my soul. The results or effects of the causes that existed in my soul while in the mortal life came with me in more acute and overpowering abundance; but no new or additional causes to produce additional effects came with me. Death took them with himself when he departed from me forever.
Life and Death - the friends of mortals - each to be welcomed! The one, the friend for eternity; the other, the friend for only a moment, but what a friend!
I intended tonight to write you a long and (as I think) important message relating to the real world of spirits, but thought it best not to do so and, hence, gave you the little impersonal thoughts with reference to my friends and your friends. I will come soon. Good night and God bless you.
Your brother in Christ,
R.G. Ingersoll
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Jesus Writes About the Battle of Armageddon
August 13, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
I was with you tonight and heard the address of the preacher (Elder Daniels) and the explanation of the cause of the Great War (World War I) that is now raging in Europe, and it was a very intelligent and truthful one and the real foundation of the war.
I will not come as the Prince Michael, as the preacher said, to establish my Kingdom on earth and take into me those whose names are written in the book and destroy those whose names are not therein written, for I have already come and am now in the world working to turn men's hearts to God and to teach them the way by which they may become at-one with the Father and receive into their souls the Divine Love.
In no other way will I ever come to men on earth for they will not need me as a visible king with the powers and armies of the spirit world in visible form to subdue the evil that exists. There will arise no Satan to fight against me or my followers in the sense that the preacher teaches, for besides, the fact that I am already in the world fighting for the salvation of men, there is no Satan. The only devils or evil spirits who are trying to influence men to evil thoughts and actions are the spirits of men, which still retain all their sins and wickedness and the evil that exists in the hearts of men themselves.
How pitiable it is that the preacher and his followers believe that the spirits of men who have died the natural death are also dead and resting in the grave, or in oblivion, waiting for the great day of my appearance on earth, as they say, in order to come again into life and be called by me into my Kingdom. How much they lose by such beliefs, and how great and surprising will be their awakening when they pass through the change called death.
There will be no Battle of Armageddon - only as each man, or the soul of each man, is now fighting the battle between sin and righteousness. This is the only battle that will ever be fought between the Prince of Peace and Satan. Each soul must fight its own battle, and in that fight the Powers of God, by His instruments, which never cease to work, will be used to help that soul overcome the great enemy, sin, which is of man's creation.
These teachings of the preacher do great harm to mankind in that they cause the individual man to believe, that I, as the Prince of Peace, will come in mighty power, and in one fell swoop will destroy evil and all who personify it, and thereby do the work which each individual man must do.
I know that it will be very difficult to persuade the people of this sect that what they teach and what they conclude the Bible teaches is not true, but I hope that when my truths are brought to light and men have the opportunity to learn the truth, that many of them will halt in the security of their beliefs and attempt to understand these truths, as they must understand them, either in the mortal life or in the spirit world, in order to enter the Kingdom of God.
As to these prophecies of Daniel, they have no application to the present condition of the world, and so far as they were written by him, or by any other prophet, they related only to the times in which they were written. No man, inspired or not, and no spirit had the omniscience to foretell these wonderful things that are now taking place in the world, and any attempts to apply these supposed prophecies to the happenings of the present day are without justification and the results of the imaginations of men that the occurrences fit the prophecies.
Peace will come, but not as the result of any Battle of Armageddon, or any other battle based upon the principles which the preacher applies to these prophecies. As I have said, this battle is going on all the time, and it is an individual fight between the sinful soul and the creatures of man's disobedience. So do not waste your time in reading or listening to these unreal and foundationless teachings of men who think that they have discovered the intentions of God with reference to the destiny of nations.
I will not write more tonight, but at sometime I may say more on this subject, though, its only importance is that it attracts men's attention away from the truth and creates beliefs which do harm. I will soon come and write another message of truth.
I am with you, as I told you, trying to help you and to show you the way to that New Birth, which is yours and all others who will follow my instructions. I love you as a younger brother and will continue to bless you with my influence and prayers. So doubt not and pray to the Father and you will find the truth in greater fullness and receive corresponding happiness. I will now stop.
Your brother and friend,
Jesus
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
I was with you tonight and heard the address of the preacher (Elder Daniels) and the explanation of the cause of the Great War (World War I) that is now raging in Europe, and it was a very intelligent and truthful one and the real foundation of the war.
I will not come as the Prince Michael, as the preacher said, to establish my Kingdom on earth and take into me those whose names are written in the book and destroy those whose names are not therein written, for I have already come and am now in the world working to turn men's hearts to God and to teach them the way by which they may become at-one with the Father and receive into their souls the Divine Love.
In no other way will I ever come to men on earth for they will not need me as a visible king with the powers and armies of the spirit world in visible form to subdue the evil that exists. There will arise no Satan to fight against me or my followers in the sense that the preacher teaches, for besides, the fact that I am already in the world fighting for the salvation of men, there is no Satan. The only devils or evil spirits who are trying to influence men to evil thoughts and actions are the spirits of men, which still retain all their sins and wickedness and the evil that exists in the hearts of men themselves.
How pitiable it is that the preacher and his followers believe that the spirits of men who have died the natural death are also dead and resting in the grave, or in oblivion, waiting for the great day of my appearance on earth, as they say, in order to come again into life and be called by me into my Kingdom. How much they lose by such beliefs, and how great and surprising will be their awakening when they pass through the change called death.
There will be no Battle of Armageddon - only as each man, or the soul of each man, is now fighting the battle between sin and righteousness. This is the only battle that will ever be fought between the Prince of Peace and Satan. Each soul must fight its own battle, and in that fight the Powers of God, by His instruments, which never cease to work, will be used to help that soul overcome the great enemy, sin, which is of man's creation.
These teachings of the preacher do great harm to mankind in that they cause the individual man to believe, that I, as the Prince of Peace, will come in mighty power, and in one fell swoop will destroy evil and all who personify it, and thereby do the work which each individual man must do.
I know that it will be very difficult to persuade the people of this sect that what they teach and what they conclude the Bible teaches is not true, but I hope that when my truths are brought to light and men have the opportunity to learn the truth, that many of them will halt in the security of their beliefs and attempt to understand these truths, as they must understand them, either in the mortal life or in the spirit world, in order to enter the Kingdom of God.
As to these prophecies of Daniel, they have no application to the present condition of the world, and so far as they were written by him, or by any other prophet, they related only to the times in which they were written. No man, inspired or not, and no spirit had the omniscience to foretell these wonderful things that are now taking place in the world, and any attempts to apply these supposed prophecies to the happenings of the present day are without justification and the results of the imaginations of men that the occurrences fit the prophecies.
Peace will come, but not as the result of any Battle of Armageddon, or any other battle based upon the principles which the preacher applies to these prophecies. As I have said, this battle is going on all the time, and it is an individual fight between the sinful soul and the creatures of man's disobedience. So do not waste your time in reading or listening to these unreal and foundationless teachings of men who think that they have discovered the intentions of God with reference to the destiny of nations.
I will not write more tonight, but at sometime I may say more on this subject, though, its only importance is that it attracts men's attention away from the truth and creates beliefs which do harm. I will soon come and write another message of truth.
I am with you, as I told you, trying to help you and to show you the way to that New Birth, which is yours and all others who will follow my instructions. I love you as a younger brother and will continue to bless you with my influence and prayers. So doubt not and pray to the Father and you will find the truth in greater fullness and receive corresponding happiness. I will now stop.
Your brother and friend,
Jesus
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
John Writes on "Why should men learn that they are not to be left to themselves in their conception of what life means..."
July 2, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, John.
I come tonight to tell you of a truth, which is important for you to know as well as for the world of mankind. I will not write a very long message, but what I may say will be the truth and every man should understand it and make it his own. I will not write upon any subject that you have been instructed upon before, but will deal with a subject entirely new and my subject is:
"Why should men learn that they are not to be left to themselves in their conceptions of what life means, and what its importance is in the economy of man's creation and destiny."
I know that this may seem to you to be a strange subject to write on, but it is one that should be of interest to all men who know that the earth life is very short and then eternity takes them into its embrace and never again permits them to become creatures of time.
Man lives and dies and never lives again according to the materialist, and he is as the brute animal without any future. But the spiritualist, and by that I mean those who believe that there is something more to man than the mere material, believes he lives and never ceases to live, although the physical body dies never to be resurrected again as such body. Now as we take either the one or the other of these views, the meaning of man's earth life assumes a very different aspect and calls for very different thoughts and actions on his part in living his life.
Of course, if what is called "death" is the end of things that man should do, or he should think he should do, as the old saying, "Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you shall die," and with that death comes oblivion and forgetfulness never to be awakened again into consciousness, his mission in the universe is fulfilled, and he can no more experience the hopes or ambitions or joys or sorrows, which were his as a living man. But on the other hand, if man never ceases to live, then his thoughts and conduct should be turned towards the accomplishment of that, which will provide for him the best possible future.
Those of both opinions know that when death comes, the physical body can no longer be used, and those who believe in the continuous existence know that as the physical body perishes, man must have some other form or body in which may be lodged the consciousness of this continued existence, and that body must be as real as the one which he relinquishes. Such being the fact, the man who knows that death does not end all will naturally and necessarily seek to learn what that body of continued existence is like and what is necessary to enable him to obtain that body and thereby enjoy the living in eternity. And, thus, seeking he will not be satisfied to learn that that body is the mere spirit body, which has been his during all the years of his earth life but will desire to further learn what the relationship is between that body and the manner of living his earth life.
I know that of himself, man cannot to any degree discover this relationship, and that he must depend upon the teachings and experiences of those who have experienced the separation of the spirit from the physical in order to at all comprehend this relationship.
As one having had this experience, I wish to say that the spirit body is, of itself, a creation like as is the physical body and has its existence only for the purpose of preserving man's individuality and of containing and sheltering his soul, both while on earth and after he becomes a spirit.
Then his living means that he is placed on the earth merely to acquire an individuality, and to learn that within him is the soul, which is his real self and which he must cherish and educate and feed with the higher thoughts and goodness of his original creation and not neglect the opportunities that come to him for this development.
I know that this seems incoherent to you with no special object in view, but you are mistaken in thus thinking for the object will soon be seen. But as you are not just in condition for further writing tonight, I will postpone my writing until later. So trusting that you will not feel inclined to reject the message, I will say good night.
Your brother in Christ,
John
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, John.
I come tonight to tell you of a truth, which is important for you to know as well as for the world of mankind. I will not write a very long message, but what I may say will be the truth and every man should understand it and make it his own. I will not write upon any subject that you have been instructed upon before, but will deal with a subject entirely new and my subject is:
"Why should men learn that they are not to be left to themselves in their conceptions of what life means, and what its importance is in the economy of man's creation and destiny."
I know that this may seem to you to be a strange subject to write on, but it is one that should be of interest to all men who know that the earth life is very short and then eternity takes them into its embrace and never again permits them to become creatures of time.
Man lives and dies and never lives again according to the materialist, and he is as the brute animal without any future. But the spiritualist, and by that I mean those who believe that there is something more to man than the mere material, believes he lives and never ceases to live, although the physical body dies never to be resurrected again as such body. Now as we take either the one or the other of these views, the meaning of man's earth life assumes a very different aspect and calls for very different thoughts and actions on his part in living his life.
Of course, if what is called "death" is the end of things that man should do, or he should think he should do, as the old saying, "Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you shall die," and with that death comes oblivion and forgetfulness never to be awakened again into consciousness, his mission in the universe is fulfilled, and he can no more experience the hopes or ambitions or joys or sorrows, which were his as a living man. But on the other hand, if man never ceases to live, then his thoughts and conduct should be turned towards the accomplishment of that, which will provide for him the best possible future.
Those of both opinions know that when death comes, the physical body can no longer be used, and those who believe in the continuous existence know that as the physical body perishes, man must have some other form or body in which may be lodged the consciousness of this continued existence, and that body must be as real as the one which he relinquishes. Such being the fact, the man who knows that death does not end all will naturally and necessarily seek to learn what that body of continued existence is like and what is necessary to enable him to obtain that body and thereby enjoy the living in eternity. And, thus, seeking he will not be satisfied to learn that that body is the mere spirit body, which has been his during all the years of his earth life but will desire to further learn what the relationship is between that body and the manner of living his earth life.
I know that of himself, man cannot to any degree discover this relationship, and that he must depend upon the teachings and experiences of those who have experienced the separation of the spirit from the physical in order to at all comprehend this relationship.
As one having had this experience, I wish to say that the spirit body is, of itself, a creation like as is the physical body and has its existence only for the purpose of preserving man's individuality and of containing and sheltering his soul, both while on earth and after he becomes a spirit.
Then his living means that he is placed on the earth merely to acquire an individuality, and to learn that within him is the soul, which is his real self and which he must cherish and educate and feed with the higher thoughts and goodness of his original creation and not neglect the opportunities that come to him for this development.
I know that this seems incoherent to you with no special object in view, but you are mistaken in thus thinking for the object will soon be seen. But as you are not just in condition for further writing tonight, I will postpone my writing until later. So trusting that you will not feel inclined to reject the message, I will say good night.
Your brother in Christ,
John
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Samuel Writes Further on Continuous Life After the Death of the Body
March 30, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Samuel.
I desire to continue my message on the subject of the continuous life of a man after the death of the body, as shown by the manifestations of nature.
As I was saying, the apparent death and resuscitation of things of the vegetable kingdom, do not furnish any argument that man will continue to live after the death of the physical body. Now I know it is difficult to understand what there can be in the manifestations of nature to prove such persistent life, and that the people for whose benefit I am writing this will not be willing to use evidence of things of a spiritual nature to prove this continuous life and, hence, I will confine myself to matters material.
Well, in the first place, there is no such thing as the death of anything in all the material universe of God. Every primal element has life in it, even though that life may not be apparent to the consciousness of men, but it is a fact. Every atom or electron, as the scientists term these particles of matter that are reduced to their infinitesimal proportions, is pregnant with life; and the very apparent decay of material substances is nothing more nor less than the results of the operation of the life that they contain, working out the changes of form or expression.
If the scientists will investigate and analyze the constituents of particles of all matter, notwithstanding that they appear to be devoid of the life principle, he will find that life, in some of its expressions, is contained in these particles, and that there is nothing in the material things of nature that is completely inert. There is no such thing as inertia - it only appears to exist; and while it may not be apparent to the natural eye that everything in the material has life within itself, and as a result therefrom, there is force and motion, yet such is the fact.
This life principle permeates everything - applies to and forms a part of everything that has the appearance of natural existence. The grain of sand on the seashore or the dust of the decayed tree has within it life, and this life is no more nonexistent or absent from these material things, than are the elements that compose this visible form of matter ever lost or without existence. It is true that these elements change their forms and their compositions, yet they never cease to exist, or become nothing. Nothing means a void, and in God's creation there is no void. Everything is of substance and there are no vacancies unfilled.
And, hence, as life is the foundation principle of existence and life exists everywhere, and there being no void in nature, life permeates everything, whether visible to the mortal eye or senses or not.
When that which is material decays or disintegrates, it does not do so as the result of the absence of life, but as the result of the operation of this principle of life upon the material in such a way as to cause the separation of its elements, and their change into new forms and appearances.
I know it is said that the workings of the elements; that is fire and water and air and chemicals known and unknown, cause the disintegration or even the disappearance of things material, but this is not strictly true, for these elements do not affect these things themselves, as a primary result of their workings, but what they affect is the life within these materials, and as that life lessens or changes, the materials of which that life is a part disintegrate or dissolve, as is sometimes said, into thin air; and never does any part of the material substance, no matter how minute it may come to be, die - that is, in the sense of losing life.
Life is a thing of such delicate nature, and is so susceptible to a division or reduction to a smallness almost to infinity, that no substance can become so small that life is not a part of it and the vital principle of its existence.
As is known, the solid rock may be reduced not only to dust but to a liquid and then to a vapor and then to a gas and then to that - that is not sensitive to the consciousness of men, and yet the life principle exists in all these forms of that material rock; and that which ultimates (finally goes) into apparent nothingness, contains life just as does the original rock, or any of its subsequent forms in the process of reduction to seeming extinction.
The materialist accepts these phenomena as true, and blindly and with full assurance announces that nothing in creation is ever lost or annihilated. This being true, why is not the conclusion logical that the apparently inanimate rock or the animal without reasoning powers or the man with the reasonable faculties, is never annihilated or lost; or in other words, never dies the death that results in nothingness!
But they say, while this may be true, yet the materials which form these various aspects of existence do not necessarily or probably come together again and reform the identical being that once appeared as an existing thing and then dissolved into the elements that composed the thing; and hence, while the elements in some form may continue to live forever, yet that form in which they once existed will not again appear. I know that this is a reasonable conclusion and one in accord with the demonstrations of science, and is applicable to the merely physical man just as to any other manifestations of the material things of nature.
But even these materialists admit that in the case of man, there is something in his formation and essential being that is more than or in addition to the merely physical portions of him, and while they may say that this something is wholly of a material nature, yet they admit that it is of a material different and distinct from the material that forms the visible physical body.
I do not speak of the soul or spiritual part of man, but of the intellect and of the five senses and of the reasoning powers, all which, of course, includes the memory. That part of man that embraces these things, the materialists must admit, is distinct and different from the mere body, and, even though it were here to be conceded that they are material, yet no man has ever seen them or felt them or in any way perceived their existence as he has that which he knows to be of the material. He has seen and heard and known the effects of the existence of these invisible material qualities, as he may call them, but has never demonstrated that they died when the physical body died. The furthest that he can go in this direction is that they disappeared and became lost to his consciousness; but that they disintegrated or dissolved or were reduced to a gaseous substance or thin air, in which he has seen the visible physical body disappear, he cannot affirm. The limit of his knowledge is that with the death of the physical body, this other, as he terms it, material part of man disappears and never again reappears to his physical senses.
As I say, he has never observed and has no knowledge of any disintegration of these invisible material parts of man into any primary elements or atoms or electrons, as he applies such terminology to the physical body, and hence he is not justified in concluding that any such results to this invisible material follows the death and dissolving of the flesh and blood and bones of man. To so conclude is more of a speculation than to hold that the invisible material did not dissolve into forms more invisible, if such an expression can be used.
As I have said, life is in all things, visible and invisible, and there is no vacuum in nature. While man is living it is demonstrated that life is in this invisible part of man, and more abundantly than in the merely visible body; and as life continues after death in the elements of this latter body, why cannot we declare that after death life continues in the invisible part of man? Nothing is ever lost or annihilated, and hence these parts of man cannot be annihilated, and existing they must contain life.
Has the materialist ever been able to demonstrate to his own satisfaction even, that this invisible part of man, which he says is material, ceases to live? He cannot say that the elements of the physical body, no matter what form they may assume, cease to live, but on the contrary affirmatively asserts that they are never annihilated and continue to exist; and as life is necessary to existence they must continue to have life.
So according to their own arguments and demonstrations and ultimate claims, the death of the physical body does not destroy the elements which compose that body but only the form in which these elements were combined. Then from this the most that they can claim as to the invisible material part of man is, that while the material which composed this part is not dead or annihilated, yet their formation may be disintegrated or changed; and hence the identity of the man, as to this portion of him, no longer exists. But this conclusion does not follow as a logical sequence, and the materialist has nothing upon which to base this conclusion, except that he has seen and knows that when the visible body dies it disintegrates and ultimately disappears.
He has never seen the disintegration of this invisible part of man, though he has seen its manifestations decay and even destroyed; but the cause of this is shown to be some decadence or disorganization of some part of the visible body through which the invisible manifested.
These materialists have knowledge of the facts that men have been deprived of their arms or legs or other parts of the body, and yet the invisible parts remained perfect, performing their functions. Also it is true, that men have received injury to their physical organs of sight or hearing, and, as a consequence the invisible organs of sight or hearing did not function, but that fact constitutes no proof that they were dead or had ceased to preserve the form they had before the physical organs were impaired; for when the defects of the physical organs were removed and these organs again came into condition to do their functioning, the invisible faculties of sight and hearing manifested their existence again just as they had existed before the physical organs were impaired. And so many similar instances might be referred to, to show that death or destruction of any or many parts of the visible body does not destroy or disseminate into its elements the invisible material part of man.
And besides, let the materialists consider the great difference in the powers and objects of the creation of these visible and invisible parts of man, and they will realize that the purely physical is wholly subordinated and used merely to enable the invisible parts to manifest themselves, and show that the real man is the invisible part, and that man can lose part of his physical vestment, and yet exist and perform his functions and exercise his powers.
I have thus tried to show that no argument can be drawn from any analogy between the vegetable things of nature, dying and coming to life again, and man's dying. Yet neither can any argument be drawn from the fact that the visible body of man dies and goes into its elements never to be resuscitated again as the same body, to show that the invisible body of man dies and is dissolved into its elements, and that man ceases to be the individual that he was before the death of the physical body.
I may not have made my message as plain and convincing as I would desire, but in discussions of this kind it is difficult to transmit the various shades of thought through the medium of a mortal. I thank you for your courtesy and will stop now. So with all my love and the blessings of the Father, I will say good night.
Your brother in Christ,
Samuel
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Samuel.
I desire to continue my message on the subject of the continuous life of a man after the death of the body, as shown by the manifestations of nature.
As I was saying, the apparent death and resuscitation of things of the vegetable kingdom, do not furnish any argument that man will continue to live after the death of the physical body. Now I know it is difficult to understand what there can be in the manifestations of nature to prove such persistent life, and that the people for whose benefit I am writing this will not be willing to use evidence of things of a spiritual nature to prove this continuous life and, hence, I will confine myself to matters material.
Well, in the first place, there is no such thing as the death of anything in all the material universe of God. Every primal element has life in it, even though that life may not be apparent to the consciousness of men, but it is a fact. Every atom or electron, as the scientists term these particles of matter that are reduced to their infinitesimal proportions, is pregnant with life; and the very apparent decay of material substances is nothing more nor less than the results of the operation of the life that they contain, working out the changes of form or expression.
If the scientists will investigate and analyze the constituents of particles of all matter, notwithstanding that they appear to be devoid of the life principle, he will find that life, in some of its expressions, is contained in these particles, and that there is nothing in the material things of nature that is completely inert. There is no such thing as inertia - it only appears to exist; and while it may not be apparent to the natural eye that everything in the material has life within itself, and as a result therefrom, there is force and motion, yet such is the fact.
This life principle permeates everything - applies to and forms a part of everything that has the appearance of natural existence. The grain of sand on the seashore or the dust of the decayed tree has within it life, and this life is no more nonexistent or absent from these material things, than are the elements that compose this visible form of matter ever lost or without existence. It is true that these elements change their forms and their compositions, yet they never cease to exist, or become nothing. Nothing means a void, and in God's creation there is no void. Everything is of substance and there are no vacancies unfilled.
And, hence, as life is the foundation principle of existence and life exists everywhere, and there being no void in nature, life permeates everything, whether visible to the mortal eye or senses or not.
When that which is material decays or disintegrates, it does not do so as the result of the absence of life, but as the result of the operation of this principle of life upon the material in such a way as to cause the separation of its elements, and their change into new forms and appearances.
I know it is said that the workings of the elements; that is fire and water and air and chemicals known and unknown, cause the disintegration or even the disappearance of things material, but this is not strictly true, for these elements do not affect these things themselves, as a primary result of their workings, but what they affect is the life within these materials, and as that life lessens or changes, the materials of which that life is a part disintegrate or dissolve, as is sometimes said, into thin air; and never does any part of the material substance, no matter how minute it may come to be, die - that is, in the sense of losing life.
Life is a thing of such delicate nature, and is so susceptible to a division or reduction to a smallness almost to infinity, that no substance can become so small that life is not a part of it and the vital principle of its existence.
As is known, the solid rock may be reduced not only to dust but to a liquid and then to a vapor and then to a gas and then to that - that is not sensitive to the consciousness of men, and yet the life principle exists in all these forms of that material rock; and that which ultimates (finally goes) into apparent nothingness, contains life just as does the original rock, or any of its subsequent forms in the process of reduction to seeming extinction.
The materialist accepts these phenomena as true, and blindly and with full assurance announces that nothing in creation is ever lost or annihilated. This being true, why is not the conclusion logical that the apparently inanimate rock or the animal without reasoning powers or the man with the reasonable faculties, is never annihilated or lost; or in other words, never dies the death that results in nothingness!
But they say, while this may be true, yet the materials which form these various aspects of existence do not necessarily or probably come together again and reform the identical being that once appeared as an existing thing and then dissolved into the elements that composed the thing; and hence, while the elements in some form may continue to live forever, yet that form in which they once existed will not again appear. I know that this is a reasonable conclusion and one in accord with the demonstrations of science, and is applicable to the merely physical man just as to any other manifestations of the material things of nature.
But even these materialists admit that in the case of man, there is something in his formation and essential being that is more than or in addition to the merely physical portions of him, and while they may say that this something is wholly of a material nature, yet they admit that it is of a material different and distinct from the material that forms the visible physical body.
I do not speak of the soul or spiritual part of man, but of the intellect and of the five senses and of the reasoning powers, all which, of course, includes the memory. That part of man that embraces these things, the materialists must admit, is distinct and different from the mere body, and, even though it were here to be conceded that they are material, yet no man has ever seen them or felt them or in any way perceived their existence as he has that which he knows to be of the material. He has seen and heard and known the effects of the existence of these invisible material qualities, as he may call them, but has never demonstrated that they died when the physical body died. The furthest that he can go in this direction is that they disappeared and became lost to his consciousness; but that they disintegrated or dissolved or were reduced to a gaseous substance or thin air, in which he has seen the visible physical body disappear, he cannot affirm. The limit of his knowledge is that with the death of the physical body, this other, as he terms it, material part of man disappears and never again reappears to his physical senses.
As I say, he has never observed and has no knowledge of any disintegration of these invisible material parts of man into any primary elements or atoms or electrons, as he applies such terminology to the physical body, and hence he is not justified in concluding that any such results to this invisible material follows the death and dissolving of the flesh and blood and bones of man. To so conclude is more of a speculation than to hold that the invisible material did not dissolve into forms more invisible, if such an expression can be used.
As I have said, life is in all things, visible and invisible, and there is no vacuum in nature. While man is living it is demonstrated that life is in this invisible part of man, and more abundantly than in the merely visible body; and as life continues after death in the elements of this latter body, why cannot we declare that after death life continues in the invisible part of man? Nothing is ever lost or annihilated, and hence these parts of man cannot be annihilated, and existing they must contain life.
Has the materialist ever been able to demonstrate to his own satisfaction even, that this invisible part of man, which he says is material, ceases to live? He cannot say that the elements of the physical body, no matter what form they may assume, cease to live, but on the contrary affirmatively asserts that they are never annihilated and continue to exist; and as life is necessary to existence they must continue to have life.
So according to their own arguments and demonstrations and ultimate claims, the death of the physical body does not destroy the elements which compose that body but only the form in which these elements were combined. Then from this the most that they can claim as to the invisible material part of man is, that while the material which composed this part is not dead or annihilated, yet their formation may be disintegrated or changed; and hence the identity of the man, as to this portion of him, no longer exists. But this conclusion does not follow as a logical sequence, and the materialist has nothing upon which to base this conclusion, except that he has seen and knows that when the visible body dies it disintegrates and ultimately disappears.
He has never seen the disintegration of this invisible part of man, though he has seen its manifestations decay and even destroyed; but the cause of this is shown to be some decadence or disorganization of some part of the visible body through which the invisible manifested.
These materialists have knowledge of the facts that men have been deprived of their arms or legs or other parts of the body, and yet the invisible parts remained perfect, performing their functions. Also it is true, that men have received injury to their physical organs of sight or hearing, and, as a consequence the invisible organs of sight or hearing did not function, but that fact constitutes no proof that they were dead or had ceased to preserve the form they had before the physical organs were impaired; for when the defects of the physical organs were removed and these organs again came into condition to do their functioning, the invisible faculties of sight and hearing manifested their existence again just as they had existed before the physical organs were impaired. And so many similar instances might be referred to, to show that death or destruction of any or many parts of the visible body does not destroy or disseminate into its elements the invisible material part of man.
And besides, let the materialists consider the great difference in the powers and objects of the creation of these visible and invisible parts of man, and they will realize that the purely physical is wholly subordinated and used merely to enable the invisible parts to manifest themselves, and show that the real man is the invisible part, and that man can lose part of his physical vestment, and yet exist and perform his functions and exercise his powers.
I have thus tried to show that no argument can be drawn from any analogy between the vegetable things of nature, dying and coming to life again, and man's dying. Yet neither can any argument be drawn from the fact that the visible body of man dies and goes into its elements never to be resuscitated again as the same body, to show that the invisible body of man dies and is dissolved into its elements, and that man ceases to be the individual that he was before the death of the physical body.
I may not have made my message as plain and convincing as I would desire, but in discussions of this kind it is difficult to transmit the various shades of thought through the medium of a mortal. I thank you for your courtesy and will stop now. So with all my love and the blessings of the Father, I will say good night.
Your brother in Christ,
Samuel
Saturday, May 11, 2013
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
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
Friday, May 3, 2013
Albert G. Riddle Writes About His Soul's Progression from the Earth Plane to the Seventh Sphere
January 19, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, your old partner, Albert G. Riddle.
I desire to write to you tonight upon a subject which I think will be interesting, but it is so late now I hesitate to do so. Well, as you think it will be all right, I will do so. I want to write on the subject of the soul's progression as I have experienced it.
As you know, when I first came into the spirit world, I was an unbeliever in things pertaining to the soul, except that I thought that the soul, which in my then opinion was the equivalent of that part of man which survived death, would continue to exist, and progress as the mental qualities of the man should be developed. That the mind was the great and only thing in the future existence and, as the mind was developed more and more on earth, the condition of the man in his progression would be determined.
I had no conception of the soul as a distinct and independent existence from the mind, and I thought that all the qualities and attributes of the mind were those which belong to the soul, and that I had none others. And so I say, I entered the spirit world and did not change my beliefs until a long time after I became a spirit.
But as I continued to live in the spirit world in this belief, I found that the mental faculties and their development did not bring to me the satisfaction which I had anticipated; and also, met some of my friends of earth, who had preceded me by long years, men of great mental acquirements. I found that their condition was not as satisfactory a nature as I had led myself to believe that they should be, for many of these friends were only in the earth plane and some were in darkness, which was wholly contrary to what they should be if my theory of the 'allness' of the mind was true. All this caused me to think and in thinking, I commenced to realize that there might be something wrong in my theory, and that the soul might be a distinct thing from the mind in its nature and functions.
I did not find that these intellectual friends of mine had any very great happiness nor were they satisfied with their condition, and yet they could not by the exercise of any mental progress get out of their condition of darkness. Of course, they were engaged in pursuing studies of one kind or another, and such studies gave them considerable happiness and satisfaction, yet, notwithstanding all this, there was some restraining force that prevented them from going to spheres higher than they were then living in.
I found that there were higher spheres where the mind was developed to a much greater degree and where many spirits, who believed in the supremacy of the mind, lived and enjoyed the pursuits of their studies. At times, some of these spirits would come to our plane and tell of the wonderful development and happiness in these higher spheres and urge us to make the effort to progress and become inhabitants of them, and you may be assured we were willing and anxious to make such progress. But try as I would, and as my friends would, the efforts produced no visible effect and we continued in darkness.
Being of an inquisitive nature, I sought for the reason of our inability to get out of the darkness. At last I found that the mind was not everything, but the development of the moral qualities were necessary to enable us to progress as we desired, and that in order to develop these qualities, something more than the mere exercise of the mental faculties were required.
Conscience must be satisfied and our recollection of evil deeds on earth must be gotten rid of, and our qualities of soul, which determined our position and condition in the spirit world, must be so adjusted to the demands of the Laws of Harmony, so that we could be able to advance in our progress to that place which such adjustment would entitle us to occupy.
I further found that the darkness in which we lived was not created by any defective condition of the mind, for many spirits whose minds were highly cultivated and possessed of unusual knowledge were in just as much darkness as were many spirits of very meagre mentality and information.
All this knowledge came to me and caused me to seek a way to improve my moral nature and to get rid of the recollections of those things which tainted and darkened such nature, and I sought very diligently, but it was slow work and the efforts required were great.
But some progress was made, and if I had continued long enough and used my will powers in urging the cultivation of kind thoughts and love for the truth and affection, etc., I would undoubtedly have progressed from darkness.This had been the experience of many spirits who believed as I did, that the mind was the thing and depended upon their own will and exertions to bring the desired results.
But while in this condition of struggle and slow progress, I would occasionally meet spirits who seemed to be of a higher order and more beautiful than was I, and naturally I wondered what the cause was, although strange as it may seem to you, I never made the inquiry until one day I met some of our folks who had this beautiful appearance and seemed to be so perfectly happy.
Naturally in our conversation, I asked them the cause of their happiness and when they told me, I was so surprised that I gave very little credence to what they said, because what they told me was so similar to what I had heard on earth in the orthodox churches. I supposed that these friends had brought with them their old orthodox faiths and emotions and were deceiving themselves as to the cause of their appearances, and that the probable cause was that they were more moral than I, when on earth and, hence, their recollections of earthly sins were less and conscience was not so severe on them and, therefore, they had gotten out of their darkness into light with the resultant appearance of beauty and happiness. I would not at first accept their explanations of the cause of their conditions and continued for sometime longer in the effort to improve my moral condition and advance in my mental acquirements.
But there was one other thing I noticed and, that is, that while these beautiful friends had not the mental development, apparently, that some other spirits who had progressed out of the darkness into the higher spheres of light, yet the beauty and seeming happiness of these friends were so much greater and of a different nature from the happiness and appearance of those more highly mentally developed spirits.
And again, I thought and concluded that even moral and mental development could not explain the cause of the difference between the appearances and happiness of these friends and those of these more mentally developed spirits; so I again determined to seek the cause and, as a consequence, I sought these friends with the intention and desire to listen more seriously to what they might tell me and to open my mind to the secret as it was to me.
Well, I listened to them and they told me that their progress and condition was caused by the soul development which they had received in seeking for and obtaining the Divine Love of the Father. That the soul is the great and important part of being spirits; that the condition of the soul development determines the position and appearance and happiness of the spirit; that the spirit body and mind are both subordinate to the soul, and whenever the mind submits to the control of the soul and the will of the mind, as you may say, to the will of the soul, that then the progress to the highest sphere will commence, and the spirit who is thus progressing will show the state of his advancement by the appearance of his beauty and happiness.
They further explained to me the nature and power of the Divine Love and its great developing potentialities and the absolute necessity of its entering into and possessing the soul in order for it to make its greatest progress; that as this Divine Love became more and more a part of the soul's possessions, the soul took on itself the Divine Nature of the Father, and all these things which had a lodgment therein, and which tended to make it dark and sinful, disappeared and as these things disappeared, the soul mounted to higher spheres and became happier and more beautiful, and the spiritual body correspondingly manifested this happiness and beauty.
All these things and many more, these friends told me and urged me to seek for the Divine Love of the Father and offered in every way to help me. At first I could not understand what seeking this Divine Love meant, but they took great pains to instruct me, and told me that only through prayer and faith would it come to me; that while this Love was waiting to fill the soul of every spirit and anxious to do so, yet only by earnest, sincere seeking would It enter the soul and fill it with Its Great Essence.
At last they persuaded me to pray to the Father and then prayed with me, but it was hard to have faith in that which my mind did not understand and could not grasp. But they said, the soul has its faculties and is not dependent upon the mind for this faith, and upon my exercising these soul faculties would depend the question of my receiving this love and this faith, for as Love came, faith would come also, which faith was not a mere mental belief, but something greater and different.
Well, I continued to pray for this Love and after awhile, I felt a sensation which I had never felt before within my soul and, as I prayed, this feeling increased and faith in a small degree came to me, and I realized that there was a Love possessing me that was never with me before. I continued, thus, to seek and pray until at last this Great Love came to me in great abundance flooding, as it were, my whole soul and happiness unspeakable came to me and, as these friends said, light and beauty also.
Well, you can imagine that my longings and desires became insatiable. The darkness disappeared. My recollections of the evils of my life became fainter and fainter and suddenly I found myself in the Third Sphere, which then appeared to me to be the very Heaven of Heavens and the very fountainhead of beauty and happiness.
Now during all this time, and it was not accomplished in a day, I gave no attention to the development of my mind, or to the acquiring of knowledge of the material things, as I might say, of the spirit world, but when I found myself in the beautiful sphere that I have mentioned, it seemed to me that my mental faculties had expanded beyond all possibilities of belief and knowledge of things, that I had never before heard or conceived of, came to me with wonderful clearness.
But the soul - and not the mind - was the thing! And Love - this Divine Love of the Father - made happiness mine and everything beautiful and satisfying. He, who seeks only the development of the mind and lets the soul slumber, is poor indeed; but he who seeks the development of the soul finds that as his soul develops his mind does also, and rich he is beyond compare.
Well, I continued in this soul development and in the increased happiness and the attainment of great brightness, and more than all the possessions of this Great Love, until I passed through the Fifth Sphere, where everything was much more beautiful, and Love so more abundant than in the Third Sphere, and entered the Seventh Sphere, where I now am. I will not attempt to tell you the glories of this sphere, for I feel that words are inadequate to do so. Then in a faint, unsatisfying way have I attempted to rehearse to you the soul's development and the wholly sufficient thing that it is.
And my advice to all mortals, based on my own personal experience, is to seek with all their might and earnest efforts the development of the soul, and that of the mind will follow. This they can commence while yet on earth, and they will find that progress after they have crossed the border line will be much more rapid and easier.
Well, it is late and I have written long enough. But I wanted so much to write to you tonight upon this subject of the soul development as I see its vital importance to the future happiness of man and to his immortality.
So with all my love and blessings, I am
Your brother in Christ,
Albert G. Riddle
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, your old partner, Albert G. Riddle.
I desire to write to you tonight upon a subject which I think will be interesting, but it is so late now I hesitate to do so. Well, as you think it will be all right, I will do so. I want to write on the subject of the soul's progression as I have experienced it.
As you know, when I first came into the spirit world, I was an unbeliever in things pertaining to the soul, except that I thought that the soul, which in my then opinion was the equivalent of that part of man which survived death, would continue to exist, and progress as the mental qualities of the man should be developed. That the mind was the great and only thing in the future existence and, as the mind was developed more and more on earth, the condition of the man in his progression would be determined.
I had no conception of the soul as a distinct and independent existence from the mind, and I thought that all the qualities and attributes of the mind were those which belong to the soul, and that I had none others. And so I say, I entered the spirit world and did not change my beliefs until a long time after I became a spirit.
But as I continued to live in the spirit world in this belief, I found that the mental faculties and their development did not bring to me the satisfaction which I had anticipated; and also, met some of my friends of earth, who had preceded me by long years, men of great mental acquirements. I found that their condition was not as satisfactory a nature as I had led myself to believe that they should be, for many of these friends were only in the earth plane and some were in darkness, which was wholly contrary to what they should be if my theory of the 'allness' of the mind was true. All this caused me to think and in thinking, I commenced to realize that there might be something wrong in my theory, and that the soul might be a distinct thing from the mind in its nature and functions.
I did not find that these intellectual friends of mine had any very great happiness nor were they satisfied with their condition, and yet they could not by the exercise of any mental progress get out of their condition of darkness. Of course, they were engaged in pursuing studies of one kind or another, and such studies gave them considerable happiness and satisfaction, yet, notwithstanding all this, there was some restraining force that prevented them from going to spheres higher than they were then living in.
I found that there were higher spheres where the mind was developed to a much greater degree and where many spirits, who believed in the supremacy of the mind, lived and enjoyed the pursuits of their studies. At times, some of these spirits would come to our plane and tell of the wonderful development and happiness in these higher spheres and urge us to make the effort to progress and become inhabitants of them, and you may be assured we were willing and anxious to make such progress. But try as I would, and as my friends would, the efforts produced no visible effect and we continued in darkness.
Being of an inquisitive nature, I sought for the reason of our inability to get out of the darkness. At last I found that the mind was not everything, but the development of the moral qualities were necessary to enable us to progress as we desired, and that in order to develop these qualities, something more than the mere exercise of the mental faculties were required.
Conscience must be satisfied and our recollection of evil deeds on earth must be gotten rid of, and our qualities of soul, which determined our position and condition in the spirit world, must be so adjusted to the demands of the Laws of Harmony, so that we could be able to advance in our progress to that place which such adjustment would entitle us to occupy.
I further found that the darkness in which we lived was not created by any defective condition of the mind, for many spirits whose minds were highly cultivated and possessed of unusual knowledge were in just as much darkness as were many spirits of very meagre mentality and information.
All this knowledge came to me and caused me to seek a way to improve my moral nature and to get rid of the recollections of those things which tainted and darkened such nature, and I sought very diligently, but it was slow work and the efforts required were great.
But some progress was made, and if I had continued long enough and used my will powers in urging the cultivation of kind thoughts and love for the truth and affection, etc., I would undoubtedly have progressed from darkness.This had been the experience of many spirits who believed as I did, that the mind was the thing and depended upon their own will and exertions to bring the desired results.
But while in this condition of struggle and slow progress, I would occasionally meet spirits who seemed to be of a higher order and more beautiful than was I, and naturally I wondered what the cause was, although strange as it may seem to you, I never made the inquiry until one day I met some of our folks who had this beautiful appearance and seemed to be so perfectly happy.
Naturally in our conversation, I asked them the cause of their happiness and when they told me, I was so surprised that I gave very little credence to what they said, because what they told me was so similar to what I had heard on earth in the orthodox churches. I supposed that these friends had brought with them their old orthodox faiths and emotions and were deceiving themselves as to the cause of their appearances, and that the probable cause was that they were more moral than I, when on earth and, hence, their recollections of earthly sins were less and conscience was not so severe on them and, therefore, they had gotten out of their darkness into light with the resultant appearance of beauty and happiness. I would not at first accept their explanations of the cause of their conditions and continued for sometime longer in the effort to improve my moral condition and advance in my mental acquirements.
But there was one other thing I noticed and, that is, that while these beautiful friends had not the mental development, apparently, that some other spirits who had progressed out of the darkness into the higher spheres of light, yet the beauty and seeming happiness of these friends were so much greater and of a different nature from the happiness and appearance of those more highly mentally developed spirits.
And again, I thought and concluded that even moral and mental development could not explain the cause of the difference between the appearances and happiness of these friends and those of these more mentally developed spirits; so I again determined to seek the cause and, as a consequence, I sought these friends with the intention and desire to listen more seriously to what they might tell me and to open my mind to the secret as it was to me.
Well, I listened to them and they told me that their progress and condition was caused by the soul development which they had received in seeking for and obtaining the Divine Love of the Father. That the soul is the great and important part of being spirits; that the condition of the soul development determines the position and appearance and happiness of the spirit; that the spirit body and mind are both subordinate to the soul, and whenever the mind submits to the control of the soul and the will of the mind, as you may say, to the will of the soul, that then the progress to the highest sphere will commence, and the spirit who is thus progressing will show the state of his advancement by the appearance of his beauty and happiness.
They further explained to me the nature and power of the Divine Love and its great developing potentialities and the absolute necessity of its entering into and possessing the soul in order for it to make its greatest progress; that as this Divine Love became more and more a part of the soul's possessions, the soul took on itself the Divine Nature of the Father, and all these things which had a lodgment therein, and which tended to make it dark and sinful, disappeared and as these things disappeared, the soul mounted to higher spheres and became happier and more beautiful, and the spiritual body correspondingly manifested this happiness and beauty.
All these things and many more, these friends told me and urged me to seek for the Divine Love of the Father and offered in every way to help me. At first I could not understand what seeking this Divine Love meant, but they took great pains to instruct me, and told me that only through prayer and faith would it come to me; that while this Love was waiting to fill the soul of every spirit and anxious to do so, yet only by earnest, sincere seeking would It enter the soul and fill it with Its Great Essence.
At last they persuaded me to pray to the Father and then prayed with me, but it was hard to have faith in that which my mind did not understand and could not grasp. But they said, the soul has its faculties and is not dependent upon the mind for this faith, and upon my exercising these soul faculties would depend the question of my receiving this love and this faith, for as Love came, faith would come also, which faith was not a mere mental belief, but something greater and different.
Well, I continued to pray for this Love and after awhile, I felt a sensation which I had never felt before within my soul and, as I prayed, this feeling increased and faith in a small degree came to me, and I realized that there was a Love possessing me that was never with me before. I continued, thus, to seek and pray until at last this Great Love came to me in great abundance flooding, as it were, my whole soul and happiness unspeakable came to me and, as these friends said, light and beauty also.
Well, you can imagine that my longings and desires became insatiable. The darkness disappeared. My recollections of the evils of my life became fainter and fainter and suddenly I found myself in the Third Sphere, which then appeared to me to be the very Heaven of Heavens and the very fountainhead of beauty and happiness.
Now during all this time, and it was not accomplished in a day, I gave no attention to the development of my mind, or to the acquiring of knowledge of the material things, as I might say, of the spirit world, but when I found myself in the beautiful sphere that I have mentioned, it seemed to me that my mental faculties had expanded beyond all possibilities of belief and knowledge of things, that I had never before heard or conceived of, came to me with wonderful clearness.
But the soul - and not the mind - was the thing! And Love - this Divine Love of the Father - made happiness mine and everything beautiful and satisfying. He, who seeks only the development of the mind and lets the soul slumber, is poor indeed; but he who seeks the development of the soul finds that as his soul develops his mind does also, and rich he is beyond compare.
Well, I continued in this soul development and in the increased happiness and the attainment of great brightness, and more than all the possessions of this Great Love, until I passed through the Fifth Sphere, where everything was much more beautiful, and Love so more abundant than in the Third Sphere, and entered the Seventh Sphere, where I now am. I will not attempt to tell you the glories of this sphere, for I feel that words are inadequate to do so. Then in a faint, unsatisfying way have I attempted to rehearse to you the soul's development and the wholly sufficient thing that it is.
And my advice to all mortals, based on my own personal experience, is to seek with all their might and earnest efforts the development of the soul, and that of the mind will follow. This they can commence while yet on earth, and they will find that progress after they have crossed the border line will be much more rapid and easier.
Well, it is late and I have written long enough. But I wanted so much to write to you tonight upon this subject of the soul development as I see its vital importance to the future happiness of man and to his immortality.
So with all my love and blessings, I am
Your brother in Christ,
Albert G. Riddle
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
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
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
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Helen Padgett Writes a Short Note About John G. Carlisle's Appearance and Explains Why He was Allowed to Write His Message
November 20, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Helen.
I called you because when the spirit* who wrote came, he was in such a very bad and suffering condition and begged so piteously to write that I thought it would be doing a great act of love and mercy to let him write.
He is a very ugly and dark and deformed spirit in his appearance, and while a man of great intellect, yet, his soul is almost in a condition of death; that is, it has no conscious life, for it was literally starved and was not capable of seeing or feeling any of the higher or better impulses. So when he came and said that he needed help so much, we let him write.
He is now with Mr. Riddle, and I hope that he may find some light and relief, though, I fear that he will have a struggle to believe what may be told him for, as you may know, when the soul becomes all shrunken and dead, it is hard for the intellect to believe anything which pertains to the awakening of the soul; but everything is possible with God and this man is not beyond redemption.
I believe, though, that he will have a long course of soul development before he will see the light and realize that his sufferings are leaving him. He must have been a very wicked man on earth, for he has about him all the traces and evidences of a very abandoned and wicked life.
"Their sins do follow them, saith the Lord," and I may add - stay with them until the great Law of Compensation has been complied with, or the greater Law of Divine Love has supplanted it.
You must not write more now. So goodbye.
Your own true and loving,
Helen
*John G. Carlisle
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Helen.
I called you because when the spirit* who wrote came, he was in such a very bad and suffering condition and begged so piteously to write that I thought it would be doing a great act of love and mercy to let him write.
He is a very ugly and dark and deformed spirit in his appearance, and while a man of great intellect, yet, his soul is almost in a condition of death; that is, it has no conscious life, for it was literally starved and was not capable of seeing or feeling any of the higher or better impulses. So when he came and said that he needed help so much, we let him write.
He is now with Mr. Riddle, and I hope that he may find some light and relief, though, I fear that he will have a struggle to believe what may be told him for, as you may know, when the soul becomes all shrunken and dead, it is hard for the intellect to believe anything which pertains to the awakening of the soul; but everything is possible with God and this man is not beyond redemption.
I believe, though, that he will have a long course of soul development before he will see the light and realize that his sufferings are leaving him. He must have been a very wicked man on earth, for he has about him all the traces and evidences of a very abandoned and wicked life.
"Their sins do follow them, saith the Lord," and I may add - stay with them until the great Law of Compensation has been complied with, or the greater Law of Divine Love has supplanted it.
You must not write more now. So goodbye.
Your own true and loving,
Helen
*John G. Carlisle
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Jesus Writes About the Spiritualist Church Attended By James E. Padgett
October 3, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
I was with you tonight and you were not very much impressed with the thoughts expressed by the speaker, because he did not dwell very much on the qualities of the soul or the manner in which are perceived the great truths of the Father. He spoke of the love of man to man and of the duties that men owed to one another and of the wonderful possibilities of the intellect in guiding man along lines of living that will bring them happiness and harmony in their earth life, but he did not show them that the mere intellect is not sufficient to bring them in that condition of soul development, which is necessary for their highest happiness in the life to come.
When he spoke of the immortality of the soul, he did not intend to express more than that the spirits of men continue to live after the body dies. He, in fact, does not know what immortality means as we have taught you, and he will some day be surprised when he learns that mere continuity of life is not immortality, or that continuance of existence, which when once possessed cannot be taken away from the spirit.
Yet, notwithstanding all this want of knowledge on his part, he is an earnest spiritualist and is doing much good to mortals for he is showing them the fact that the spirit of man is a mere extension of form of what man now possesses, and that there is no such thing as the death of the spirit when the body dies, or that the spirit lies with the body in a state of obscurity or nothingness, or rather of oblivion, until what the orthodox call the great judgment day.
I am interested in the efforts that these people are now making to build a temple in which to worship and gather in their cause, and I favor the building of the same, because while they do not preach or know the great and necessary truths, yet, they preach those things which free men from the beliefs that hold them in thralldom and error and set them free to receive the greater truths when the time shall come that they shall be known to humanity. So that I would advise you to help their project to the extent that you feel yourself able.
Many people will find that the things, which they may hear at these meetings will cause them to arouse from their slumbers and ignorance and cause them to investigate for themselves the truths of spiritualism, and when once they start and become convinced of one truth, they will continue to seek and in the end - if they are sincere seekers - find the truths, because when their minds shall be convinced of the truths of spirit existence and spirit control, they will then realize that over and beyond this, there is something that their souls long for and is never satisfied; and the result will be that they will be in condition to readily believe what may be told them, which leads to that which will satisfy their souls in their longings.
This is the great good that the spiritualists are doing in their efforts to extend their spiritualistic doctrines, and when they are earnest true believers and teachers in what they know of these things, they will bring about that which will cause the increase in the number of mortals who will accept the higher truths of the Divine Love and the immortality of the soul and the way to obtain it.
So you see, that while you may not be much benefited in your soul's aspirations in attending these meetings or affiliating with these people, yet, I would advise that you do everything in your power to help the movement to establish firmly that church in this city for it will be a great influence in attracting people in all parts of the country to the truths of spiritualism. Let not the thought that this church may not teach the real truths of the soul development, or those things which will bring men in attunement with the Father, cause you to in any way discredit the movement that they may endeavor to start in the way of a revival as one of their preachers said.
A little of the truth is better than none at all, especially when it leads to free men from a bondage that has caused them to blindly follow the teachings of those who are in darkness and error.
I will not write more tonight, but will say this, that you and your friend must believe what has been told you and continue to pray to the Father and seek more of the Divine Love. When the time comes I will inform him of the work, which he shall do and it will be an important one and one which will bring him in close contact with me and the higher forces of the Celestial Spheres.
He is now in a condition to receive this soul development, and he must let his mind and soul expand to their fullest extent so that when it comes, I mean the Divine Love, with the great and wonderful power which will accompany it, he will be in a condition to receive it.
I am your friend and brother and his, also, and you must both believe that I am writing this to you for I am that Jesus that all the spirits have told you about and if it were profitable, I would come to you, as I came a few nights ago, and show my glory and power. But this is not necessary for you will believe without this and so much the stronger will be your belief.
I must stop now. So with my love and blessings for you both and my peace, which the world cannot give you, I will say goodnight.
Your brother and friend,
Jesus
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
I was with you tonight and you were not very much impressed with the thoughts expressed by the speaker, because he did not dwell very much on the qualities of the soul or the manner in which are perceived the great truths of the Father. He spoke of the love of man to man and of the duties that men owed to one another and of the wonderful possibilities of the intellect in guiding man along lines of living that will bring them happiness and harmony in their earth life, but he did not show them that the mere intellect is not sufficient to bring them in that condition of soul development, which is necessary for their highest happiness in the life to come.
When he spoke of the immortality of the soul, he did not intend to express more than that the spirits of men continue to live after the body dies. He, in fact, does not know what immortality means as we have taught you, and he will some day be surprised when he learns that mere continuity of life is not immortality, or that continuance of existence, which when once possessed cannot be taken away from the spirit.
Yet, notwithstanding all this want of knowledge on his part, he is an earnest spiritualist and is doing much good to mortals for he is showing them the fact that the spirit of man is a mere extension of form of what man now possesses, and that there is no such thing as the death of the spirit when the body dies, or that the spirit lies with the body in a state of obscurity or nothingness, or rather of oblivion, until what the orthodox call the great judgment day.
I am interested in the efforts that these people are now making to build a temple in which to worship and gather in their cause, and I favor the building of the same, because while they do not preach or know the great and necessary truths, yet, they preach those things which free men from the beliefs that hold them in thralldom and error and set them free to receive the greater truths when the time shall come that they shall be known to humanity. So that I would advise you to help their project to the extent that you feel yourself able.
Many people will find that the things, which they may hear at these meetings will cause them to arouse from their slumbers and ignorance and cause them to investigate for themselves the truths of spiritualism, and when once they start and become convinced of one truth, they will continue to seek and in the end - if they are sincere seekers - find the truths, because when their minds shall be convinced of the truths of spirit existence and spirit control, they will then realize that over and beyond this, there is something that their souls long for and is never satisfied; and the result will be that they will be in condition to readily believe what may be told them, which leads to that which will satisfy their souls in their longings.
This is the great good that the spiritualists are doing in their efforts to extend their spiritualistic doctrines, and when they are earnest true believers and teachers in what they know of these things, they will bring about that which will cause the increase in the number of mortals who will accept the higher truths of the Divine Love and the immortality of the soul and the way to obtain it.
So you see, that while you may not be much benefited in your soul's aspirations in attending these meetings or affiliating with these people, yet, I would advise that you do everything in your power to help the movement to establish firmly that church in this city for it will be a great influence in attracting people in all parts of the country to the truths of spiritualism. Let not the thought that this church may not teach the real truths of the soul development, or those things which will bring men in attunement with the Father, cause you to in any way discredit the movement that they may endeavor to start in the way of a revival as one of their preachers said.
A little of the truth is better than none at all, especially when it leads to free men from a bondage that has caused them to blindly follow the teachings of those who are in darkness and error.
I will not write more tonight, but will say this, that you and your friend must believe what has been told you and continue to pray to the Father and seek more of the Divine Love. When the time comes I will inform him of the work, which he shall do and it will be an important one and one which will bring him in close contact with me and the higher forces of the Celestial Spheres.
He is now in a condition to receive this soul development, and he must let his mind and soul expand to their fullest extent so that when it comes, I mean the Divine Love, with the great and wonderful power which will accompany it, he will be in a condition to receive it.
I am your friend and brother and his, also, and you must both believe that I am writing this to you for I am that Jesus that all the spirits have told you about and if it were profitable, I would come to you, as I came a few nights ago, and show my glory and power. But this is not necessary for you will believe without this and so much the stronger will be your belief.
I must stop now. So with my love and blessings for you both and my peace, which the world cannot give you, I will say goodnight.
Your brother and friend,
Jesus
Friday, December 28, 2012
Ross Perry, James E. Padgett's Late Friend, Explains Why He Committed Suicide
October 1, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, your late friend, Perry.
I want to tell you that I am in a condition of great darkness and suffering, and I am not able to find a way out of the darkness or to relieve myself from my tortures.
I know that you may think it strange that I did not listen to Mr. Riddle when you brought him in contact with me a short time ago, but I could not believe what he told me, or understand in what way the darkness would leave me by merely praying to God and trying to believe that there is such a thing as Divine Love, which I might obtain by letting my belief in what he said become sufficiently strong to cause me to forget the recollections of my awful deed.
I saw that he was a wonderfully bright spirit and seemed to be so very happy in his condition of belief but, nevertheless, I was not able to believe that it was the result of what he told me and so I am in the same condition that I was when I wrote you last.
My friend, for such I believe you to be or you would not be able to interest yourself in me as you have, I want to tell you that if I only again could shoot myself and by that means end my existence, I mean annihilate my spirit and soul, so that they would go into nothingness, I would gladly and quickly pull the trigger and send the bullet into that spot which would bring about the desired effect. But I realize now that I must continue to exist and to suffer for how long I don't know, but it seems to me forever and ever.
Oh, why did I do such a thing. I had no occasion to take my life so far as earthly things were concerned, for I needed nothing of the material to make life satisfactory.
Well, I will tell you, as you may know, I was, as I thought, something of a philosopher on earth and to me life was a thing to retain or put off just as I might think it had served or not its purpose, and when I felt that I could no longer do any special good to the world or to those who were near to me, I thought that there was no reason why I should longer continue the life, which was one of monotony in a certain sense. And besides, I felt that I had arrived at the height of my mental powers, and that they were on the decline and the thought that I should decrease in what I had so striven to cultivate and display to my acquaintances caused me to believe that the object of my creation had been fulfilled, and that I would gradually become not only an encumbrance, but a person to be looked upon with a kind of pity which would cause me much unhappiness.
To have others point their finger at me and say: "There goes poor Perry who used to be such a brilliant and capable man, and who is now a mere wreck of his former self intellectually. Isn't it a pity that such a man should come to a condition that he has come to."
These are some of the thoughts that entered my mind and, in addition, as I have told you, I thought that death was the end of all, and that in the grave I would know nothing and sleep in utter oblivion.
These thoughts I fed on some little while before I decided to die and the more I thought, the greater became my condition that what I had said would prove to be true. Just before I fired the fatal shot, I thought intensely of all these things and saw that what I supposed would be an end to everything was the true solution of life's decay and to mental as well as to physical decrepitude. And when I prepared to do the deed, I was never more calm in all my life. It did not require any courage on my part for conviction of the correctness of my conclusions was so strong that the question of courage was not a part of the equation.
Men may think that courage is necessity to commit suicide, but I tell you, I believe that courage or the want of courage forms no part of a man's condition of mind when he commits that deed. The mind forms its own conclusions as to the necessity or the desirability of doing the act and every other consideration or reason is ignored. The suicide is not, as a general thing, at the time of the act, a coward. I have no doubt though in bringing his mind to the condition that I have spoken of, that is in feeling that the burdens of life are too great, or that he cannot further bear the things which duty calls upon him to do, he may be and often is a coward.
I must not write more on this theme now. I am more interested in finding a way, if possible, out of this intense darkness and suffering.
I have not seen Mr. Riddle since my first interview and I do not think that I would be benefited by seeing him because, for one thing, the great contrasts in our conditions only intensifies my sufferings and, hence, I prefer to remain to myself or among spirits like myself.
You know that on earth the poor are much happier with the poor than when thrown into the company of the rich, and this because of the apparent greater happiness of the latter. And so with me. When I see Riddle in his happiness, I feel that my misery is the greater.
No, I did not see your grandmother at that time and I do not know her now. But why do you ask that question? Well, if what you say is true, I should like very much to meet her and listen to her, and if you will tell me how I can meet her, I will make the effort. I will certainly take advantage of your invitation and be with you tonight and hope that I may meet your grandmother.
How I wish that I may find what you tell me and feel the influences that you speak of. Oh, for such a consummation. Why, my dear friend, if what you promise me shall come true, I will never cease thanking you for your kindness and help.
I am astonished at what you say, for I never really believed in Jesus as you tell me of him. I could not when on earth believe in him as a God, and I thought that he was really an ideal of progressive human minds, and that as to his actual historical or earthly existence, it was a mere fable. But now you tell me that he really exists and is working in the spirit world to help the fallen and dark spirits, and that he comes to you and tells you of his love and work. Well, I won't say that I can't believe you but, I prefer to wait until I see him myself, and then if he appears to me as you say, I will be ready to believe what Riddle told me about prayer and the Divine Love. How wonderful all this is.
You surprise me more and more. Of course, I knew Ingersoll and read many of his lectures and in some things agreed with him, but when you tell me that he is now a believer in God and in Jesus and has been converted to Christianity, you again draw very strongly on my credulity, and I am afraid that if what you tell me is true, I will see so many surprising things that I will hardly know whether I am a spirit of hell or not.
I will ask him to tell me about his conversion and I will listen to him intently and will try to believe what he tells me, but when you describe it as you do, by the comparison you make with that of Paul, I am more bewildered than ever.
Tell me then, what kind of man are you to know all these things? I cannot understand you. When on earth I merely considered you as like the rest of us, but now I am told that you know things that I never thought any mortal could know. Well, astonishment upon astonishment and all, as you say, to help me and lead me to the light. Yes, that is what I want, light.
Only wait until I have had these experiences that you promise me, and I will come to you and write you a letter that you will tire of receiving. I must stop now, for you must be tired and I am. So my dear friend let me say that I thank you with all my heart and hope that I may be able to come to you again and say that what you promised me I have received.
Your friend,
R. Ross Perry
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, your late friend, Perry.
I want to tell you that I am in a condition of great darkness and suffering, and I am not able to find a way out of the darkness or to relieve myself from my tortures.
I know that you may think it strange that I did not listen to Mr. Riddle when you brought him in contact with me a short time ago, but I could not believe what he told me, or understand in what way the darkness would leave me by merely praying to God and trying to believe that there is such a thing as Divine Love, which I might obtain by letting my belief in what he said become sufficiently strong to cause me to forget the recollections of my awful deed.
I saw that he was a wonderfully bright spirit and seemed to be so very happy in his condition of belief but, nevertheless, I was not able to believe that it was the result of what he told me and so I am in the same condition that I was when I wrote you last.
My friend, for such I believe you to be or you would not be able to interest yourself in me as you have, I want to tell you that if I only again could shoot myself and by that means end my existence, I mean annihilate my spirit and soul, so that they would go into nothingness, I would gladly and quickly pull the trigger and send the bullet into that spot which would bring about the desired effect. But I realize now that I must continue to exist and to suffer for how long I don't know, but it seems to me forever and ever.
Oh, why did I do such a thing. I had no occasion to take my life so far as earthly things were concerned, for I needed nothing of the material to make life satisfactory.
Well, I will tell you, as you may know, I was, as I thought, something of a philosopher on earth and to me life was a thing to retain or put off just as I might think it had served or not its purpose, and when I felt that I could no longer do any special good to the world or to those who were near to me, I thought that there was no reason why I should longer continue the life, which was one of monotony in a certain sense. And besides, I felt that I had arrived at the height of my mental powers, and that they were on the decline and the thought that I should decrease in what I had so striven to cultivate and display to my acquaintances caused me to believe that the object of my creation had been fulfilled, and that I would gradually become not only an encumbrance, but a person to be looked upon with a kind of pity which would cause me much unhappiness.
To have others point their finger at me and say: "There goes poor Perry who used to be such a brilliant and capable man, and who is now a mere wreck of his former self intellectually. Isn't it a pity that such a man should come to a condition that he has come to."
These are some of the thoughts that entered my mind and, in addition, as I have told you, I thought that death was the end of all, and that in the grave I would know nothing and sleep in utter oblivion.
These thoughts I fed on some little while before I decided to die and the more I thought, the greater became my condition that what I had said would prove to be true. Just before I fired the fatal shot, I thought intensely of all these things and saw that what I supposed would be an end to everything was the true solution of life's decay and to mental as well as to physical decrepitude. And when I prepared to do the deed, I was never more calm in all my life. It did not require any courage on my part for conviction of the correctness of my conclusions was so strong that the question of courage was not a part of the equation.
Men may think that courage is necessity to commit suicide, but I tell you, I believe that courage or the want of courage forms no part of a man's condition of mind when he commits that deed. The mind forms its own conclusions as to the necessity or the desirability of doing the act and every other consideration or reason is ignored. The suicide is not, as a general thing, at the time of the act, a coward. I have no doubt though in bringing his mind to the condition that I have spoken of, that is in feeling that the burdens of life are too great, or that he cannot further bear the things which duty calls upon him to do, he may be and often is a coward.
I must not write more on this theme now. I am more interested in finding a way, if possible, out of this intense darkness and suffering.
I have not seen Mr. Riddle since my first interview and I do not think that I would be benefited by seeing him because, for one thing, the great contrasts in our conditions only intensifies my sufferings and, hence, I prefer to remain to myself or among spirits like myself.
You know that on earth the poor are much happier with the poor than when thrown into the company of the rich, and this because of the apparent greater happiness of the latter. And so with me. When I see Riddle in his happiness, I feel that my misery is the greater.
No, I did not see your grandmother at that time and I do not know her now. But why do you ask that question? Well, if what you say is true, I should like very much to meet her and listen to her, and if you will tell me how I can meet her, I will make the effort. I will certainly take advantage of your invitation and be with you tonight and hope that I may meet your grandmother.
How I wish that I may find what you tell me and feel the influences that you speak of. Oh, for such a consummation. Why, my dear friend, if what you promise me shall come true, I will never cease thanking you for your kindness and help.
I am astonished at what you say, for I never really believed in Jesus as you tell me of him. I could not when on earth believe in him as a God, and I thought that he was really an ideal of progressive human minds, and that as to his actual historical or earthly existence, it was a mere fable. But now you tell me that he really exists and is working in the spirit world to help the fallen and dark spirits, and that he comes to you and tells you of his love and work. Well, I won't say that I can't believe you but, I prefer to wait until I see him myself, and then if he appears to me as you say, I will be ready to believe what Riddle told me about prayer and the Divine Love. How wonderful all this is.
You surprise me more and more. Of course, I knew Ingersoll and read many of his lectures and in some things agreed with him, but when you tell me that he is now a believer in God and in Jesus and has been converted to Christianity, you again draw very strongly on my credulity, and I am afraid that if what you tell me is true, I will see so many surprising things that I will hardly know whether I am a spirit of hell or not.
I will ask him to tell me about his conversion and I will listen to him intently and will try to believe what he tells me, but when you describe it as you do, by the comparison you make with that of Paul, I am more bewildered than ever.
Tell me then, what kind of man are you to know all these things? I cannot understand you. When on earth I merely considered you as like the rest of us, but now I am told that you know things that I never thought any mortal could know. Well, astonishment upon astonishment and all, as you say, to help me and lead me to the light. Yes, that is what I want, light.
Only wait until I have had these experiences that you promise me, and I will come to you and write you a letter that you will tire of receiving. I must stop now, for you must be tired and I am. So my dear friend let me say that I thank you with all my heart and hope that I may be able to come to you again and say that what you promised me I have received.
Your friend,
R. Ross Perry
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
John the Baptist Writes Comforting Words to James E. Padgett: "Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled"
September 30, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
Let not your heart be troubled, believe in God and in the Master. This is as true tonight as it was when spoken by Jesus to his disciples many centuries ago. You are his disciple now just as certainly as were they, and while you cannot see him or hear his voice as they did, yet, the words are just as emphatically spoken tonight as they were to the other disciples.
You do not realize what love and what powerful influences are with you tonight, else you would let your worries flee to the winds and never return.
I merely want to tell you this to let you see that there is another of the Celestial Spirits who knows that the Master's promises will be kept. I am not here because I want to encourage you merely but because I want to tell you a fact, and fact it is, that you will soon be relieved of your worries.
Go to God in prayer and you will find great consolation as we have all found consolation in our troubles, and when on earth we had a great number who were persecuted resulting in the death of many of us. But we had faith, and our faith and the love of the Master helped us over many rough places. I merely want to add another confirmation to those who have told you that you will be relieved of these worries.
I will stop and say that, I am your brother in Christ,
John The Baptist
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Jesus Writes on the True Meaning of "Immortality"
May 28, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.
I am here, Jesus.
I want to tell you what I mean by immortality, as you and your friend differed today in your ideas of what it means.
When Adam*, or whom he typified, was told that if he should disobey God and eat of the forbidden fruit, he should surely die, the word death meant death of the soul so far as its future progress in that which would insure its receiving the Divine Essence of the Father's Love was involved. It did not mean the physical death or the death of the body, because it is very apparent that after his doom was pronounced, he lived in the flesh a great many years. But his soul's progression stopped.
And it was only after my coming to earth and teaching the doctrine and truth of man being restored to the condition which Adam occupied before his fall, did mankind have the privilege of becoming immortal again - that is, of being permitted - and in condition - to obtain that soul progress, which would enable them to become one with and a part of the Father in His love and affections.
I do not mean that Adam was endowed with this Divine Love when he was created, but that he had that formation of soul potentialities which, if properly exercised, would have brought him in that unison with the Father that would have made his nature divine. And when he disobeyed the commandments of the Father, he died - so far as that possibility of obtaining that Divine Nature is concerned.
As to those who lived on earth between Adam's fall and my revelation of the truth of redemption, they did not receive this nature, or potentiality, and were compelled to live only as mortals and spirits having the natural love. They never were admitted into the Father's Heavenly Kingdom, but existed merely as spirits having the natural love which was bestowed upon Adam and his race. Abraham, Isaac, and the rest of the persons who are described in the Bible as being children of God and obedient to His commands, were not partakers of this Divine Nature and became so only after my coming to earth and showing the way to its attainment.
When I was sent to earth, God sent me with the truth as to redemption and conferred upon man the privilege of receiving His Divine Essence. No sacrifice or death of mine brought this great boon, but only with my coming came this Love and the way to obtain it. Adam was not created immortal, but had only the potentiality of immortality, and after his death, man ceased to have this potentiality until God sent it to them with my coming to earth.
And when it was said that: "As in Adam all men die, so in me were all men made alive,"** it was merely meant that when Adam fell, that which formed a part of his being and made it possible for him to become immortal was taken from him - that is, as to that potentiality and privilege, he died, and was no more able to attain to the condition of soul that enabled him to become one with the Father, or to partake of His Divinity; and in this death remained the condition of mankind until, as I say, I came and brought with me the restored gift of the soul attribute, which made it possible for man to again become immortal.
When this gift was bestowed upon man, it was also bestowed upon all those who were then living in the spirit world, but they could obtain it only in the way that was provided for man to obtain it. Understand me, everything that was lost by Adam's fall was restored by my coming with the restored gift; and it embraced every spirit who had ever lived as mortal and every mortal who thereafter lived up to the present time.
My coming, of itself, or the death or sacrifice of me by the Jews, did not restore mankind to the condition that existed in Adam before his fall. I was only a messenger of God sent with that gift and to teach the truth of its restoration to mankind and to spirits. And when, after my death, I descended into Hell, as the Bible says (but which saying does not express the destination of my going, for the true meaning is that I went into the world of spirits), I proclaimed to the spirits the truth of the bestowal of this restored life which had been lost by Adam's disobedience.
All spirits, good and bad, now have this restored potentiality of obtaining the Divine Nature that I have spoken of, or immortality. So you see, when Adam died, it was the death of the soul quality or potentiality which makes immortality possible.
When the Bible speaks of those men of ancient times who were God's prophets and beloved children and as walking with Him, it merely means that they had obtained such a high development of their natural love that they could occupy those spheres in the spirit world upon their physical death, which made them mere spirits of mortals, close to the Father and supremely happy. I mean that happiness which does not partake of the Divine Nature. They were not in the same condition of soul attributes as was Adam before his fall - for they did not have this potentiality, and any interpretation of anything written in the Bible which gives to any man or spirit, at that time, the possibility of receiving the Divine Essence of the Father is erroneous and misleading.
As I have said, my death or sacrifice by blood, as is emphasized in creeds and worship of the churches, did not in the slightest degree work to bring about the restoration of this great favor of God to man. They were merely the results of the conditions of the beliefs of men in the Jewish nation, which would not tolerate my declarations of truth. My death, etc., did not appease any wrath of God towards men, but of His own Great Love for His creatures He bestowed this gift or privilege of the soul, which man had lost by Adam's disobedience.
It was the disobedience of believing that he was not dependent upon God for the soul quality or potentiality that made it possible for him to partake of God's Divine Nature. The tree of good and evil merely represented the knowledge that God had reserved unto Himself of the existence of that, which if known to Adam, would have subjected him to temptations that would destroy this soul quality of which I have spoken. And when Adam ate of the fruit of this tree that is - when he disobeyed God and sought the knowledge of those things which subjected him to the temptations that might cause him to cease to be all good - God took away the potentiality of Adam becoming one with Him and immortal. It was a direct punishment for disobedience, and the result was that man was left mere man, either as a mortal or as a spirit.
I do not think that it was ever said that if Adam should eat of the tree of life, he would live forever and become as gods, because he was already the recipient of this tree of life in that attribute of his soul which could by its proper development make himself like the gods; and here you must understand that gods could mean only those who possessed this Divine Nature of the Father. There was only one God, and all other living beings in the spirit world were merely those who were possessed of the God-like qualities of love and obedience. None were gods. The Angels of God were merely the spirits that I have last described.
When it was said that man was made a little lower than the Angels, it meant that while these Angels had that Divine Nature perfected to a more or less degree, man had only the potentiality of soul that would enable him to obtain that development which would perfect him so that he could become an Angel. But this saying does not apply to any man born after Adam and before my coming with the announcement that God had restored to man this Divine attribute which Adam had forfeited.
So you see, the loss of immortality does not mean the death of the physical body, but the death of that quality or potentiality of the soul which enabled man to become like the Father in certain of His Divine attributes. And more strictly speaking, the mere possession of the soul of this quality is not immortality, or rather it does not make a man or spirit immortal, but merely gives him such quality of soul and potentiality that by its proper development he may become immortal.
In the future, all men, either as spirits or mortals, will possess that soul quality or potentiality until the great day of judgment shall again take from those who have not, at the time, perfected their souls into the enjoyment of the Divine Nature, as I have explained. When that day comes, those who are without this Divine Essence in their souls, will be forever deprived of the privilege of receiving this Great Gift or obtaining of this Divine Essence or, in other words, of God's Divine Love. And after that time, those spirits who have never acquired this Divine Nature will be permitted to live merely as spirits enjoying their natural love, just as Adam after his fall, and all spirits and men who lived between that time and my coming, lived only in their natural love. This is the second death. Adam's was the first, and the great day of judgment will declare the second. And after that never again will man have the opportunity of partaking of this Divine Essence of the Father and "becoming as one of the gods."
Men may reason to the utmost of their limited intellects in the way of saying that God would not subject His creatures to this second death and, thereby, deprive them of this great boon of becoming partakers of His Divine Nature and the great happiness that comes with it, but such reasoning, or the conclusion reached, will not change the fact. What I tell you is the fact and many men to their sorrow will, when too late, realize that it is true. And men will not be justified in complaining of this.
The opportunity is now given and will in the future be given to all men and spirits to become the children of the Father in the Angelic and Divine sense, and if they refuse to do so, they can have no grounds upon which to base the accusation of injustice against the Father or His love. He will still be their Father, even though they may not accept His Great Gift, and they will - from the natural love bestowed upon them - be comparatively happy, but they will not partake of His Heavenly Kingdom.
They will be like the guests invited to the marriage feast who, because of various excuses, declined to attend. While they were not deprived of other food and sustenance, yet, the more precious food, which the host had provided for them at the feast, they never partook of, and never thereafter had the opportunity to. Many of my parables in the Bible illustrate this great truth when properly understood. But men in those days did, when I was on earth, and men now harden their hearts and shut their intellects to the truths of these parables and to my teachings.
Of course, ultimately, all these men will be saved from sin and error and, in fact, sin and error will be destroyed entirely and men and spirits will live comparatively happy; but they will live in death and not in life, so far as the life of the soul with its possibilities of becoming Divine, or of enjoying the great happiness which the Divine Love of the Father bestows, is concerned.
So you see, immortality does not pertain to the physical body or to the spiritual body, or to the soul unqualifiedly, but to those qualities of the soul, which makes it possible for the soul to become in its nature Divine. And immortality does not mean mere continuous existence, because every spirit and every soul may live through all eternity in their individualized form. And when it was said in the Bible that I brought immortality and life to light, it did not mean that I showed man merely that they would, as spirits, continue to live forever, but it meant that they would live forever in the Father's Kingdom with natures Divine and not capable of being deprived of the great and true life which obtains only in that Kingdom.
So let you and your friend think over what I have written, and in places where my meaning may not appear plain, I will try by the inspiration of my knowledge and power to enlighten your souls and intellects. You are both very mediumistic and easy recipients of inspiration, and as your souls seem to be attuned to the truth and as you are seeking earnestly for the truth, I will endeavor with all my powers to inspire you with such intellectual thoughts and spiritual perceptions as will enable you to see these truths in all their nakedness, and face to face, and not as through a glass darkly.
I must now stop and give you my blessings, and the blessing of the Father.
Your friend and brother,
Jesus
__________________
* Adam, typified one of the first parents whose names are Aman and Amon. Both these spirits wrote through Mr. Padgett. Their messages will be posted in the future.
** 1 Corinthians 15:22
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