Mary Kennedy Writes a Message to Dr. Leslie R. Stone on How Small is the Human Mind as Compared to the Spirit who Possesses the Great Love of the Father

January 29, 1918
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Mary Kennedy.

Well, my dear, I mean Leslie, you may think that I am a simple little English girl without having any knowledge of what the wise men of earth call "psychology;" yet, I know more about the soul than the scientist as he is known on earth, for I know that my soul is immortal, and not only that, but the reason why it is so.

How small a thing is the human mind, even of the most learned, as compared to the mind of a spirit who has received the Great Love of the Father in his soul and realizes that it is a part of the very essence of the Father's Being. I know that you would rather have your Mary be an Angel of the Celestial Heavens than to be one of the wisest of the wise in the spiritual planes.

Well dear, this is all interesting to us from a certain viewpoint, but really not so interesting as the Great Love that binds us so closely together. A knowledge of the soul, as I know it, is very vital, but a knowledge of what makes the soul at-one in perfection with its true soulmate is equally, if not more, important.

How poor are those spirits who are investigating the subject of the soul in a mere intellectual way, as compared with those who know what the soul is, without having to investigate with the mind. And when Love is known and realized how rich is the spirit who possesses and realizes the truth of the reality of that Love, proof comes without seeking proof and speculation is a thing unnecessary and unknown.

Tonight I am very happy that I can write to you and tell you what you already know; but to tell you is a joy, for when I do so, you must say, "Sweetheart, I love you in return;" and then you see I am happy in giving and receiving. If it were not so late, I would write you a long letter, but the writer tells me that he must not write more tonight.

So believe that I love you with all my heart, and trust in my efforts to help and comfort you, and above all pray more to the Father for His Love, and have faith that it will be bestowed upon you. Good night, dear heart,

Your own loving,
Mary

Jesus Writes on the Soul: What it is and what it is not.

March 2, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

I come tonight to write my message on the soul, and will do so, if we can establish the necessary rapport.

Well, the subject is of vast importance and difficult of explanation, for there is nothing on earth known to man with which a comparison may be made, and, generally men cannot understand truth, or the nature of things, except by comparison with what they already know to exist and with whose qualities and characteristics they are acquainted.

There is nothing in the material world that will afford a basis of comparison with the soul and, hence, it is difficult for men to comprehend the nature and qualities of the soul by the mere intellectual perceptions and reason, and in order to understand the nature of this great creation - the soul - men must have something of a spiritual development and the possession of what may be known as the soul perceptions. Only soul can understand soul, and the soul that seeks to comprehend the nature of itself must be a "live soul" with its faculties developed to a small degree, at least.

First, I will say, that the human soul must be a creature of God and not emanation from Him, as a part of His soul, and when men speak and teach that the human soul is a part of the Over-Soul, they teach what is not true.

This soul is merely a creature of the Father, just as are the other parts of man, such as the intellect and the spirit body and the material body and, which before its creation had no existence. It has not existed from the beginning of eternity, if you can imagine that eternity ever had a beginning. I mean that there was a time when the human soul had no existence; and whether there will ever come a time when any human soul will cease to have an existence, I do not know, nor does any spirit, only God knows that fact. But this I do know, that whenever the human soul partakes of the Essence of the Father, and thereby becomes Divine itself, and the possessor of His Substance of Love, that soul realizes to a certainty that it is Immortal and can never again become less than Immortal. As God is Immortal, the soul that has been transformed into the Substance of the Father becomes Immortal, and never again can the decree, "Dying thou shalt die," be pronounced upon it.

As I said, there was a period in eternity when the human soul did not exist and was created by the Father, and when it was made the highest and most perfect of all God's creation, to such an extent that it was made in His image - the only one or thing of all His creations that was made in His image, and the only part of man that was made in His image, for the soul is the man and all his attributes and qualities, such as his intellect and spirit body and material body and appetites and passions, are merely appendages or means of manifestation given to that soul to be its companions while passing through its existence on earth and, also, qualifiedly while living in eternity. I mean some of the appendages will accompany the soul in its existence in the spirit world, whether that existence be for all eternity or not.

But this soul, great and wonderful as it is, was created in the mere image and likeness of God, and not in or of His Substance or Essence - the Divine of the universe - and it, the soul, may cease to exist without any part of the Divine Nature or Substance of the Father being lessened or in any way affected; and, hence, when men teach or believe that man, or the soul of man is Divine, or has any of the qualities or Substance of the Divine, such teaching and belief are erroneous, because man is only and merely the created man, the mere likeness but no part of the Father or of His Substance and qualities.

While the soul of man is of the highest order of creation, and his attributes and qualities correspond, yet he is no more divine in essential constituents, than are the lower objects of creation - they each being a creation, and not an emanation, of their Creator.

True it is that the soul of man is of a higher order of creation than any other created things and is the only creature made in the image of God and was made the perfect man, yet man - the soul - can never become anything different or greater than the perfect man, unless he receives and possesses the Divine Essence and qualities of the Father, which he did not possess at his creation, although, most wonderful gift, with his creation, God bestowed upon him the privilege of receiving this Great Substance of the Divine Nature, and thereby become Divine himself. The perfectly created man could become the Divine Angel, if he, the man, so willed it and obeyed the commands of the Father, and pursued the way provided by the Father for obtaining and possessing that Divinity.

As I have said, the souls, the human souls, for the indwelling of which God provided material bodies, that they might live the mortal lives, were created just as, subsequently, these material bodies were created; and this creation of the soul took place long before the appearance of man on earth as a mortal, and the soul prior to such appearance had its existence in the spirit world as a substantial conscious entity, although without visible form and, I may say individuality, but yet, having a distinct personality, so that it was different and distinct from every other soul.

Its existence and presence could be sensed by every other soul that came in contact with it, and yet to the spirit vision of the other soul, it was not visible. And such is the fact now. The spirit world is filled with these un-incarnated souls, awaiting the time of their incarnation, and we spirits know of and sense their presence, and yet with our spirit eyes we cannot see them, and not until they become dwellers in the human form and in the spirit body that inhabits that form can we see the individual soul.

And the fact that I have just stated illustrates - in a way describes - the Being of Him in whose image these souls are created. We know and can sense the existence and presence of the Father, and yet, even with our spiritual eyes we cannot see Him; and only when we have our soul developed by the Divine Essence of His Love can we perceive Him with our soul perception, because you have not words in your language to convey its meaning, and nothing in created nature, of which you have knowledge of in which a comparison can be made. But it is a truth; for the vision of the soul perception to its possessor is just as real, as I may say, objective, as is the vision of the mortal sight to the mortal.

It may be asked in considering this matter of the creation of the soul: "Were all souls that have been incarnated, or that are awaiting incarnation, created at the same time, or is that creation still going on?"

I do know that the spirit world contains many souls, such as I have described awaiting their temporary homes and the assumption of individuality in the human form, but as to whether that creation has ended and at sometime the reproduction of men for the embodying of these souls will cease, I do not know, and the Father has never revealed it to me, or to the others of His angels who are close to Him in His Divinity and Substance.

The Father has not revealed to me all the truths and the workings and objects of His creative laws, and neither has He given to me all power and wisdom and omniscience as some may find justification for believing in certain of the statements of the Bible. I am a progressive spirit, and as I grew in love and knowledge and wisdom when on earth, I am still growing in these qualities, and the love and mercy of the Father come to me with the assurance that never in all eternity will I cease to progress towards the very fountainhead of these attributes of Him, the only God, the All in All.

As I was saying, the soul of man is the man, before, while in the mortal existence and ever after in the spirit world, and all other parts of man, such as the mind and body and spirit are mere attributes, which may be dissevered from him as the soul progresses in its development toward its destiny of either the perfect man or the Divine Angel, and in the latter progression, men may not know it, but it is a truth, that the mind - that is, the mind as known to mankind, becomes, as it were, non-existent; and this mind as some say, the carnal mind becomes displaced and replaced by the mind of the transformed soul, which is in substance and quality, to a degree, the mind of Deity, itself.

Many theologians and philosophers and metaphysicians believe and teach that the soul, spirit and mind are substantially one and the same thing, and that anyone of them may be said to be the man - the ego - and that in the spirit world one or the other of these entities is that which persists and determines in its development or want of development the condition or state of man after death. But this conception of these parts of man are erroneous, for they each have a distinct and separate existence and functioning, whether man be a mortal or spirit. The mind, in its qualities and operations, is very well known to man, because of its varied manifestations and being that part of man which is more of the nature of the material and has been the subject of greater research and study than has been the soul or the spirit.

While men have, during all the centuries, speculated upon and attempted to define the soul and its qualities and attributes, yet to them it has been intransitive and impossible of comprehension by the intellect, which is the only instrumentality that man generally possesses to search for the great truth of the soul and, hence, the question of: "What is the soul?" has never been satisfactorily or authoritatively answered, though to some of these searchers, when inspiration may have shed a faint light upon them, some glimpse of what the soul is, has come to them. Yet to most men who have sought to solve the problem, the soul and spirit and mind are substantially the same thing.

But the soul, as concerning man, is a thing of itself, alone. A substance real, though invisible to mortals. The discerner and portrayer of men's moral and spiritual condition - never dying, so far as known, and the real ego of the man. In it are centered the love principle, the affections, the appetites and the passions, and possibilities of receiving and possessing and assimilating those things that will either elevate man to the state or condition of the Divine Angel or the perfect man, or lower him to the condition that fits him for the Hells of darkness and suffering.

The soul is subject to the will of man, which is the greatest of all endowments that were bestowed upon him by his Maker at his creation, and is the certain index of the workings of that will either in thought or action, and in the soul's qualities of love and affection and appetites and passions are influenced by the power of the will, either for good or evil. It may be dormant and stagnate, or it may be active and progress. And so its energies may be ruled by the will for good or evil, but these energies belong to it and are no part of the will.

The soul's home is in the spirit body, whether that body is encased in the mortal or not, and it is never without such spirit body, which in appearance and composition is determined by the condition and state of the soul. And finally, the soul or its condition decides the destiny of man, as he continues in his existence in the spirit world; not a final destiny, because the condition of the soul is never fixed, and as this condition changes, man's destiny changes, for destiny is the thing of the moment, and finality is not known to the progress of the soul until it becomes the perfect man and is then satisfied and seeks no higher progress.

Now, in your common language and also in your theological and philosophical terms, mortals who have passed to spirit life are said to be spirits, and in a certain sense this is true, but such mortals are not nebulous, unformed and invisible existences, they have a reality of substance, more real and enduring than has man as a mortal, and are in form and features visible and subject to touch and the object of the spiritual senses. So when men speak of soul, spirit and body, if they understood the truth of the terms, they would say: "soul, spirit-body, and material-body."

There is a spirit, but it is altogether distinct and different from the spirit body, and also from the soul. It is not part of the spirit body, but is an attribute of the soul, exclusively and without the soul, it could not exist. It has no substance as has the soul, and it is not visible to even the spirit vision - only the effect of its workings can be seen or understood, - and it is without body, form or substance. And yet it is real and powerful, and when existing never ceasing in its operations - and is an attribute of all souls.

Then what is the spirit? Simply this - the active energy of the soul. As I have said, the soul has its energy, which may be dormant or which may be active. If dormant, the spirit is not in existence; if active the spirit is present and manifests that energy in action. So to confuse the spirit with the soul, as being identical, leads to error and away from the truth.

It is said that God is spirit, which in a sense is true, for spirit is a part of His great soul qualities, and which He uses to manifest His presence in the universe; but to say that spirit is God is not stating the truth, unless you are willing to accept as true the proposition that a part is the whole. In the divine economy, God is all of spirit, but spirit is only the messenger of God, by which He manifests the energies of His Great Soul. And so with man. Spirit is not man-soul, but man-soul is spirit, as it is the instrumentality by which the soul of man makes known its energies and powers and presence.

Well, I have written enough for tonight, but sometime I will come and simplify this subject. But remember this, that Soul is God, soul is man, and all manifestations, such as spirit and spirit body are merely evidences of the existence of the soul - the real man. I have been with you as I promised, and I know that Father will bless you. So with my love and blessing, I will say good night.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

Ann Padgett Writes to Assure Her Son, James, that They are Really the Spirits They Represent Themselves To Be

February 13, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Mother.

Let me say just a word, as I have heard the Master's message and I am glad that he has given you the assurance that he has, for his love and care means to you so much more than you can possibly realize. He is so very loving and gracious and powerful and, when he comes to you, he means to bring with him a glory that is not with him ordinarily as he works in this earth plane.

Well, I love you too, with a greater Mother's love, which now fills my soul and makes me so happy and contented in the knowledge that I am an immortal child of the Father. I know that sometimes you feel discouraged and almost believe yourself alone and that we are possibly not what we tell you we are and then we try the harder to reach your soul and consciousness with our love so that these feelings may leave you and we generally succeed and are happy when we do so. Many of your friends are here tonight and you have around you a wonderful amount of love and effort to make you realize that you are not alone and you must try to believe what I say.

I am very happy and progressing all the time for I am now higher in the Celestial Heavens than when I last wrote you and so is Helen, bless her dear heart and, of course, your grandmother has progressed and she has become a wonderful spirit all glorious and shining. The spirits who sometimes write about her and who live in the lower spheres, of course, never see her as she really is for they would not be able to withstand her glorious appearance. But she brings her love with her to these lower spheres and these spirits can feel the influence of that love and do so.

She says she will come soon and write you a message of truth. All send love and, of course, your mother gives and leaves with you her love in all its abundance. And I am happy also, my dear boy. Keep your faith and trust and even though you may live the years that you have been told you, yet they will be short and then you will be with us and your happiness will be great.

Good night and God bless you,

Your loving,
Mother

Jesus Writes on the Subject of the Soul

February 13, 1917
Received by James Padgett 
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

Well, I come tonight and desire to write on the subject of the soul but when I consider your condition, which is much better than it has been, I desire it best to wait a while longer. As I have told you, it is necessary for you to get in the best possible receptive condition in order that you may receive my message just as I deliver it.

I know that you are anxious to receive this discourse and expect that it will contain a disclosure of mysteries that the world has so long had hidden from it. And such will be the contents of the message but as a fact there are no mysteries connected with this subject for the soul is a creature of God, just as is the body and spirit. The only reason that mankind has not known of the nature and constituency of the soul is that their soul perceptions have never been developed, so that they could comprehend the qualities that pertain to the soul. They have studied and conceived of the nature of the body and have assumed at some knowledge of its wonderful construction and functions and the purposes of its existence, and so they have some idea of what the spirit is which is really a manifestation of the workings of the soul.

And as I have before told you, the active energies of the soul and even as to the spirit while they see its manifestations yet they have but a slight apprehension of what it really is. Yet they necessarily have some knowledge of its workings, for the results of its activities are manifested even to their physical senses. But as to the soul, they have but a very indefinite comprehension of what it really is and frequently, in their conception of its qualities and functions and existence, confuse it with the mind or with the spirit and hold them to be synonymous.

They know nothing of its origin and of its great possibilities and of the fact that it is the only part of man that lives forever and can become a part of the very Substance of the Father himself and, hence, become immortal. That it is that which gives to man a creation and existence above the brute creation of earth and that it determines the great distinction between man and the brute creation and not reason is this determiner as men so frequently assert.

Reason is merely a faculty of the mind which in the event of the soul taking on the divine substance, becomes, as it were, a thing of non-existence - for the faculties of the soul supplants reason. That is the reason that so distinguishes man, as mere man, and which will continue in this spirit life to distinguish him as God's highest creation, so long as man remains mere man even though he becomes the perfect man.

But I will not write more on this now.

I am your friend and brother,
Jesus

John H. Padgett Writes of His Progress to the First Celestial Sphere

October 28, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, your Father.

I desire to write a few lines tonight, as I have not written for some time and I feel that I want you to hear from me and learn that I have been with you a great deal, trying to help you and make you happy.

I know the worries that you have and know that everything looks so dark to you and no apparent relief in sight, but you must not have such dreaded views, for what you imagine you see will never come to pass, and things will take on a brighter hue before a great while. I love you, as you know, and so do many others who are with you frequently, and you must believe that they are trying to help you and are doing so. If you could realize just for a moment what power you have surrounding you and how much it is being exercised for your good, you would not look upon material things in such a gloomy light.

I am now in the First Celestial Sphere and am happy beyond all expression, and know that the Divine Love of which you have heard so much is a real living thing that makes the souls of spirits at-one with the Father and immortal. My dear son, I cannot tell you the glories of the home that is mine or of the happiness which I have in my soul; and when I sometimes think of what I was on earth and what I am now, I am astonished that such great difference could exist between the two existences. God is all Love and His Mercy and care are without limit, and all mortals are the object of all these blessed attributes of Him.

Keep up your courage and let all the aspirations of your soul go forth to Him and His Love for you are on the right road to obtaining this Great Love in increased abundance and your home in the Celestial Spheres is assured; only pray and have faith.

Many spirits are here tonight and some desire to write, but I do not know if they will do, as your wife says that this is her night and she has promised to write you and must keep her promise. She is so wonderful and beautiful that you would not know her if you could see her in her glorious appearance and her love is exceedingly transcendent, and her love for you rather surprises us all for it is deeper than the ocean and higher than the Heavens, as you mortals say. She is a spirit of such exceeding brightness that we - who were with her when she first came to the spirit world  - can scarcely realize that she is the same person that came to us a few short months ago. But she sought for the Divine Love with all the positiveness and longings of her soul and was never satisfied unless she was progressing, so that now she is higher up in the Celestial Spheres, and is filled with this Love, and with it has a beauty that outshines the stars and a wisdom that you cannot conceive of. We all love her very much and her work in bringing soulmates together is resulting in a wonderful good and happiness to these happy ones.

Well, I am glad that I could write to you tonight and tell you these things. But do not forget that I am with you very often and am still your Guardian Angel, although you have around you and interested in you, a vast number of spirits of the Celestial Heavens.

Well, you must know that as I progress in my soul development, I also progress in my mental development and knowledge and power of expression come to me, as it were, unconsciously, and no effort is required to write you and explain the things of this world in a manner that you would hardly expect from what you know of my mental development when on earth. There are many surprising things occurring all the time to spirits as they progress, and I am told that there is no end to our progress, and it must be so, for even the highest spirits say that they are progressing to higher and higher planes all the time.

Yes, my soulmate has progressed with me and we are very happy. I wish I could tell you what soulmate happiness when combined with the happiness of the Divine Love means. But it would be useless to try. Your mother's soulmate has progressed also; he is in the Seventh Sphere and is striving with all the energies of his soul to get in the sphere with your mother, and he will soon do so, for she is helping with her wonderful love and is with him a great deal. I must stop now. So with all my father's love, I will say good night.

Your loving father and brother in Christ,
John H. Padgett

Elias (Elijah) Writes that He Never Knew of the Divine Love Until Jesus Came to Earth and Made Known its Rebestowal

October 1, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Elias.

I was the prophet of old and now I am an inhabitant of the Celestial Heaven and an immortal child of the Father. I have been present on several occasions when the high spirits were writing to you and have been much interested in the work, which they are doing and in the work which you are doing, for you are doing a wonderful work in helping the dark spirits of suffering and in bringing these spirits in close communion with the higher spirits who can show them the way to the Father's Love.

I would like to write you a long message tonight upon the history of the times in which I lived, and the knowledge that we, who were looked upon and written about as prophets, had as to the relationship between God and man; and what some of our experiences were with the spirits of the Heavens who came to us and communicated some of the truths of the Father.

And I will say in all our knowledge of truth, we never understood what the Divine Love of the Father was as distinguished from the love that He bestowed on all men irrespective of their seeking for His Love, and irrespective of the fact that they were sinful and disobedient to His commands. As I now know, we could not have understood what this Divine Love meant, or ever have possessed it, for in my time and until the coming of Jesus, the privilege of men receiving it did not exist. The Father had withdrawn this privilege from humanity.

But we did receive spiritual knowledge of those things that would make man better in his moral nature, and bring him closer to the Father in his natural love; and our efforts were directed towards making the people understand these things and the necessity of complying with the moral laws.

As I said, I should like to write you a long message, but there is another present who desires to write and I will stop. But I will come soon and deliver my message and, in the meantime, I will pray for you and try to help you in your soul development and in your work. With all my love and blessings I will say good night.

Your brother in Christ,
Elias

Jesus Writes that the Only Part of Man that is Immortal is the Soul

August 26, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

I come tonight to let you know that in a few nights I will write you another message conveying important truths that are necessary for men and spirits to know.

I see that you have not been well and that your vitality is somewhat exhausted, and that it is not best for you to attempt to write much at this time. You had better not attempt to receive any messages except from your wife. I wish to tell you, though, that you will soon feel much better and will be able to proceed with your work without any interference.

The only part of man that is immortal is the soul. The spirit is merely the active energies that manifest life and these energies - for their existence - depend upon the soul from which they emanate. Very soon I will deliver a message defining just what the soul is, and what the spirit is, and their relationship to each other and to the body. So do not trouble yourself about this question, but believe that the soul is the ego - the real part of man which distinguishes him from the beast, which has a spirit as has man, but not a soul. All these matters will be explained before we cease delivering these messages of truth.

I will not write more tonight, but with my love and blessings, say to you have faith in the Father's Love and pray without ceasing and all happiness will be yours.

Your brother and friend,
Jesus

John Writes About "The Condition of the Soul When and After the Divine Love Flows Into It"

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

I am here, John.

I come tonight to tell you that you are in a better condition than you were last night, and that I desire to write a short message if you think that you can receive it. Well, I will not write very long, and what I shall say will have to do with "the condition of the soul when and after the Divine Love flows into it."

As you know, the soul in the condition in which man possesses it before the entrance of the Divine Love is not in accord with the Love of God, nor is it a part of the Great Oversoul. It is only a special creation made in the image of the Father, having in it the natural love, which was conferred upon man at the time of his creation and not having in it any part of the Essence of the Father, or any quality that makes it of the Divine Nature of the Father or necessarily immortal.

But when the Divine Love enters into it, and it becomes permeated, as it were, with the Divine Essence, then it takes on the Divine Nature of the Father, and to the extent that it receives and possesses this Love, it becomes at-one with God and ceases to be a mere image and becomes transformed into the substance.

The soul in this condition is altogether a different entity from the soul in the condition in which it was created, and no longer is subject to the dominion of either the mind or of the animal appetites and desires and, hence, the spirit possessing such a soul is, in essence, a part of the Father, or as Jesus said, is in the Father and the Father in it.

Now, do not understand that such a soul is the soul that man originally possessed with increased development of purity and goodness or freedom from sin, because such is not the case. Such soul by such transformation becomes a new thing, and never again can it relapse into the soul of man's origin. Because of the qualities that it then possesses, it becomes immortal, and such immortal nature can never be taken from it.

It is now a thing of love and purity, and consciousness of its true condition is always with the spirit that has such soul. This transformation is gradual, and men must not think that by the mere act of conversion from their state of death. they at once become possessed of the nature of the Divine, for such is not the fact. The transformation is gradual and comes according to the susceptibility of the the soul to receive this Love of which I speak.

But when once the inflowing of the Love commences, it continues eternally. Although there may be times of stagnation and apparent loss of this Divine Essence, yet always is the transformation taking place, and at certain stages in its progress, the possession of this Divine Love will be so great that the original soul, or its original qualities will entirely disappear and leave only the new qualities which the Divine Love has implanted in it. The leaven when once deposited never ceases to work until the whole shall become leavened.

I will not write more tonight, but only further say, that this condition of transformation may be obtained by all men if they will only seek for it in the proper way and with faith.

I will soon write you again. In leaving you, I give you my love and blessings and the assurance that I am helping you in your efforts to carry forward the work and in accomplishing all the promises. So my dear brother, good night.

Your brother in Christ,
John

Jesus Writes on How the Divine Love Enters Into the Soul of Man

March 23, 1916
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

I am here according to promise and desire to write you on a subject that all men should be acquainted with. "How the Divine Love enters into the soul of a man."

As I have told you before, man is a creature of God having a body, spirit and soul; and all these are necessary to make the perfect man. But these three parts of man are different in their characteristics and functions, and are separate and distinct, and have qualities that are unlike in their composition as well as in the duration of their existence.

The body, as you and all men know, has an existence which lasts only during the life of the mortal on earth, and after that life ends, dissolves into its elements, which no more can form the same body either in the mortal world or in the spirit world, for these elements are merely things of matter and may be and are used to form other bodies and manifestations of the material of nature; not necessarily in the form of human beings, for they enter into other forms both animal and vegetable and are so disseminated that never again will they become parts of a resurrected body. Your orthodox do not teach this truth, but think in some mysterious way that the mortal body will sometime be resurrected.

No, the body, when it has performed its function of maintaining and shielding the soul and spirit of man during his earth life, is no longer and cannot thereafter be a part of that man and may be considered as something that is no longer a part of him.

This body though, as a matter of fact even during the life of the mortal, is not the same body during that life, for continually is there changes in the elements that compose that body; and one element or set of elements, gives place to others and becomes lost or absorbed in the great sea of elements that help form or constitute the universe of God.

By operation of the Laws of Attraction and Repulsion, these elements, as they replace others which disappear, conform themselves to the general appearance or outline of the parent body, so that the identity of the body as well as of its appearance is preserved; and as a man grows older, the laws which make the changes in his appearance cause these new elements to conform to these changes, so that, even while the material continues to envelop the spirit during the short span of a man' s life, yet that material is not the same for any length of time. I make this preliminary statement merely to show that the material part of man is not at all connected with the real man, so far as the persistent nature of him is concerned, and this material need not be considered in discussing the subject that I desire to write about.

The spirit part of man is that part which contains what may be called the functions of life and the force and power existing in him and which immediately control him in his conduct and living. This real, existing principle of life, unlike the body, never dies, but continues to live after the spirit drops its envelope of flesh. This spirit part of man contains the seat of the mental faculties and reasoning powers, and uses the organs of the material body to manifest these attributes. These faculties live and exist, even though the physical body may be in such imperfect condition that the spirit may not he able to make its manifestations in such a way as to enable the mortal to perceive or sense the material things of nature, as they are called. To be specific, even though the material organs of sight may become impaired or destroyed, yet in that spirit body, which is within the physical body, exists the actual sight just as perfectly and completely as if these impaired or destroyed organs were doing their functioning; and the same is true as regards the hearing and the others of what are called the five senses of man.

And as to the reasoning faculties and mental qualities, they exist in the perfect state whether the brain is healthy or not or whether it performs its work or refuses to do so. These qualities do not depend upon the soundness or perfect workings of the organs of the physical body in order that these spirit qualities may exist in a perfect condition, but the proper workings of the physical organs, or rather the proper and natural movements and manifestations of the brain, and the conscious operations of the mental faculties, do depend upon the spirit faculties being able to use these physical organs in a proper way and in accordance with the harmony of the creation of the relative and correlative parts of man.

These spirit faculties, which man calls the intellect and the five senses, are a part of the spirit body which is enclosed in the material body and which in turn encloses the soul. When the material body dies, the spirit body continues to exist and live on in the world of spirit, and with it and as continuing parts of it, these intellectual faculties, performing all their functions free from the limitations that the physical organs placed upon them. And when this change takes place, these mental qualities, notwithstanding that they have not the material organs through which they functioned when in the mortal frame, can conceive thoughts of things material and hear and see things of the material just as they did, and even more perfectly, when they were enveloped by the environments of flesh and blood.

So you see when the mortal dies, the only thing that dies and is left behind is the mere physical body, and with the spirit body survives all those things which can be said to be the real man, so far as the mind is concerned. Hence, man never ceases to remember and to progress and to know that he is a being which death cannot destroy or change into something that he was not before death came to him. And thus I answer the question: "When a man dies shall he live again?" He never ceases to live, and his living is not a new life, but merely the continuation of the old life with all the things of mind and conscience that were his in the old life.

In the purely spirit life, the spirit body continues to contain the soul and will be its protector and covering so long as that spirit body shall last. But this body then begins to change, and by disintegration into what we may call spirit elements, and the formation of new elements to replace the disappearing ones. This change in this body is not caused by the same laws that operated to change and disintegrate and replace the physical body, but by the law controlling the development of the soul which the spirit body contains.

The soul is the real man, because it is the only thing or part of man that may become immortal, the only part of man that was made in the image of its Creator, and the only part of man that may become a part of the Substance of its maker and partake of His Divine Nature. I say may, for that is an important part of this great possibility. I know this possibility of the soul becoming immortal - by partaking of the Divine Nature of God - is true; for it is a proven fact in the case of many souls who are now in the Celestial Heavens.

I also know that there are many souls in the spirit world, who have been there for many centuries, who have never received this Divine Nature and consciousness of immortality. Whether such souls who have not received this Divine Nature shall become or are immortal has never been demonstrated. This I do know that in the economy of God's plan for the forming of His Kingdom, at some time - when, I don't know - this privilege of partaking of His Divine Nature and the certainty of immortality will be withdrawn from the souls of men and spirits and then, whether these souls who suffer this condemnation will partake of immortality no spirit knows, only God.

There are other things that I know and here tell you, and among them is this: that so long as the soul does not receive this Divine Nature, the mind, which I have described as being a part of the spirit body, continues to exist and dominates both soul and body; and in its progress it may attain to a condition of purity and perfection such as were possessed by the first created living souls - our first parents. Many spirits now are in this condition, but yet are mere men, and their souls remain only in the image of God - nothing more.

While God is mind, mind is not God, and also while God is spirit, spirit is not God. So that when men teach that mind is God, and that men must seek to attain to that mind, and thus become like God, they fall far short of the truth. The mind is only an attribute of God, and beyond and back of that mind is the real God - the personality, and that is Soul, from which emanates all these attributes and manifestations which mortals as well as spirits may be conscious of.

But while God is Soul, yet that Soul is a thing of substance with a nature Divine, and the seat and fountainhead of all the great attributes that belong to Him, such as love and power and life and omniscience and mercy. And here I must state one fact which may startle those who believe and teach that mind is God, and that is, that which is called the human mind is not a part of the mind of God, for this human mind and all its faculties and wonderful qualities are mere special creatures just as are the spirit body and material body of man. As I have said, man was created in the image of God only as regards the soul; and here always bear in mind that the creation was only an image.

The mind of man was a special creation, just as were the minds of the lower animals, differing only in degree. And if God had not given to man a soul and the spirit body to envelop it, and in which he placed this mind of man, when man died the death of the physical body, that would have been the end of him; as such death is of the body, which is not a part of this soul image of God.

As I have heretofore written you, when God created man and made him in His own image as to the soul, He also gave to man the possibility of obtaining the Substance of the Father; that is, of having that soul which was a mere image become that soul which is of the Substance of the Creator. I have also explained to you how man, by his disobedience, lost that possibility, and for long centuries was deprived of this great privilege, and how it was again restored to him at the time of my coming to earth, so that he now and for nineteen centuries past has had the possession of this great gift or privilege of partaking of the Substance of the Father.

Well, when man, by the way that has been pointed out to him, becomes possessed of the Substance of the Father's Divine Nature, even in an initial degree, his soul commences to change and lose its character as a mere image and to progress towards the attainment of that condition when this image disappears and the Divine Substance takes its place; and as the progress continues, he receives so much of the Substance that his soul takes on the Divine Nature of the Father, and his at-onement with the Father becomes so perfect that he becomes an inhabitant of the Father's Kingdom.

This occurs when he becomes fitted to enter the First Celestial Sphere; and just here occurs another thing which may startle those who teach that the mind is the essence of God, and that is the mind which man, both as mortal and spirit, possesses up to that point in the progress of the soul where the transformation into the Divine Nature takes place, becomes a thing of naught; or rather becomes absorbed in the mind of the soul, which is the real mind of the Father. And then and ever after, only this mind of the soul is that which enables the real Divine man to understand the things of God to help him in his progress.

I will continue later. You are tired. But remember that I love you and you have me with you at all times to help and sustain and comfort you. Good night my dear brother.

Your friend and brother,
Jesus

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

Luke Writes Further On the Atonement, Part 2

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

I am here, St. Luke.

I wish to continue my discourse on the Atonement.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Your brother in Christ,
Luke

Jesus Writes About the Great Plan of the Father for Redemption

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

I am Jesus.

I will write only a few lines. I merely want to say that what you have read tonight from your wife as to her progress and her condition of Love is all true. She is in such a state of happiness that you must not wonder that she was not able to describe to you her home and her new surroundings, for they are beyond description in the words that you mortals use to express your ideas.

But this I will say, that the heart of man has never conceived nor the mind of man thought of the great blessings and joy which the Father has prepared for those who love Him in the way of possessing His Divine Love, which makes their souls at-one with Him and causes them to partake of His Divine Nature and realize that they are a part of His Great Divinity and Immortal.

If mortals would only learn of this great plan of the Father for their redemption, and then believe and try to get this Great Love, how much more happiness there would be, not only among spirits but among mortals also, for this Love can be possessed to a very great degree by mortals, notwithstanding (that) they have all the trials and temptations of the flesh.

My object is to have you and your friend obtain this Great Love while you are still in the flesh, for your work will require that you have this Love so that you can not only teach its existence, but by your very lives show and prove to mankind that it is a thing of reality.

I will soon write you another message that will show another great truth which mankind must know.

Well, I will explain that sentence in one of my messages very soon, and will to the satisfaction of your friend show that God never leads any of his children into temptation, and that I never said in teaching my disciples the Lord's prayer, that they should pray that God would not lead them into temptation. I will also write you the actual prayer which I taught them, and which is the true prayer which all men with fervent, honest, longing hearts should offer to the Father. So let not this trouble you or your friend, for God does not lead men into temptation but, on the contrary, uses the influence of his righteous spirits upon them to help them resist all temptation.

With all my love for you and your co-worker, and the blessings of the Father upon you both,

I am your brother and friend,
Jesus

Helen Writes that She Has Progressed to the Third Celestial Sphere

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

I am here, your Helen.

I am ready to write as I promised you today, and you must not think that I will not tell you of what is so dear to me and should be to you. It has been a long time since I wrote you very much in detail about myself, and you do not know what has taken place in my soul progression for some time past.

Well, I have been praying and trying to get more Love of the Father in my soul and have succeeded to such an extent that I am now in the Third Celestial Sphere, where are your grandmother and mother also; and my dear, if I could only tell you of the joys and grandeur of this sphere, I should be most happy, but I have not the words at my command to give you any satisfactory idea of what the appearance and conditions of this sphere are.

I have described to you my home in the Second Celestial Sphere, though very inadequately, but that home cannot compare with what I have now, and I cannot better describe it than to say it is beyond all possible conception of what you can possibly have of beauty and grandeur and Love. I am only in the lower planes of this sphere, but these are so filled with the Father's Love, that it almost seems impossible that there can be any spheres where there is more of this Love but, of course, as Jesus and all the apostles and some others who write you have their homes in these higher (Celestial) Spheres and nearer to the fountainhead of Love, consequently, there must be more Love where they are.

I am so happy that I can scarcely tell you of what this happiness means but, at any rate, I must say that there is never the slightest thing to interfere with my happiness or to make me think that I am not an accepted child of the Father partaking of His Love to an extent that makes me immortal and never again subject to death.

This happiness is not such as satisfies only for a while, but is one continual source of living, free from all that might enter into the feelings or lives of spirits that know not that they are one with the Father and a part of Him in Love and beauty. I am only wanting one thing now to make my life complete, and that is to have you with me; but from this you must not think that I am not perfectly happy and contented, for I am, but as you have been told, I am only one half of the complete one, the other half must come and join the half that I am before the perfect one can become completed. So my dear Ned, you must try now harder than ever to get this Great Love in your soul in more abundance, and you may if you will only pray and have faith, for the Master says that you can, and he knows.

Yes, I have my individual home here, just as I had in the lower spheres, and it is just as real, and more so, as any home which you have on earth. My garments are the same in appearance, as to form, but oh, so much more beautiful and shining white, and my countenance, too, is more beautiful and full of expressions of Love. So you see, I have a greater Love for my Father and a greater Love for you; for as my Love for the Father increases, my Love for you also increases, and I know that when you come over this Love will be so great, that you will wonder that such Love could exist.

I do not think that I had better write more tonight as I do not feel like telling you of other things, and I only want to enjoy this Great Love free from communicating about other matters, though at another time, I shall be pleased to do so.

So sweetheart, think of me as I am now, filled with this Great, new Love that is possessing my whole being, and now dear you are the object of this Love outside of that which is the Father's.

I will not write more, but will say that I am yours now and for all eternity and am waiting, oh so longingly, for the time to come when you can be with me. I will stop writing.

Your own true and loving,
Helen

Thomas Jefferson, Former President of the United States, Writes a Short Note That He is Interested in the Important Work James E. Padgett is Doing

December 9, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am a stranger, but I want to say just a word as I am so interested in the work that you have before you to do. You certainly are a favored man by having been selected to do this work. It is a stupendous work and one which is of the greatest vital importance to mankind and to the destiny of mortals.

I will not write longer at this time but would like to come again, if agreeable, and write.

Yes, I am a lover of God, and I live in the First Celestial Sphere and, as you know, am a redeemed child of God and immortal.

I will now say with all love - good night.

Thomas Jefferson

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

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

I am here, St. Paul.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Your brother in Christ,
St. Paul

Amon (Eve of the Bible) Writes That She Did Not Seduce Adam to do the Great Wrong, Which Caused Their Fall From Grace

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

Amon.

I am the first mother of all the human race, and I want you to know that before Aman and myself, no human beings ever existed. We were created by God at the same time and were ready, just after the moment of our creation, to live the lives of natural beings. So that there was no gradual growth on our part from any other creature or thing. I know it has been said that the first man was not created, but developed from some animal of the lower order, and as the process of evolution proceeded, this being became in the end a man, with all the wonderful organism and structure of his body, but I want to tell you that this is not true.

When I was created I was as perfect in my physical organism as I ever was afterwards or as any man or woman ever became from that time into the present. In fact, I believe, that at the time of our creation we were more perfect than mankind are now, because we had no physical ailments, no sickness, no deformity of any kind. We certainly were more beautiful in face and form than mankind now are or have been for many long centuries; and besides, our bodies and organism lasted for longer years than do the bodies of mankind at this time.

Before our fall we were very happy in our conjugal love, and knew not troubles or worries of any kind, and never had anything to make us afraid or draw us apart from each other or from God; not until the great temptation came, and then because of our ideas of our greatness and power and want of dependence on God, we fell and never again were restored to our position of beauty and happiness that were ours in the beginning of our lives on earth.

So you must see that we were specially created and not evolved from any other thing.

Some men now may marvel and wonder at the Bible description of the creation of man, and reject the description as the imaginings of a mind of romance or imagery are not true, but I tell you now that the essentials of this creation and the fall, are true. Of course, the parts played by the apple and the snake and the devil are not true literally, but are symbolical of the principles that entered into the temptation and fall. Well, I was as much to blame as was Aman, but I did not entice him after I had the ambition to become immortal without waiting till that time came when God would give us that quality of His own nature; but our ambitions grew together and we discussed the matter of making the great effort between us and acted as one in trying to obtain this great immortality.

So the story in the Bible is not exactly true just as far as I am concerned, for I did not entice or seduce Aman to do the great wrong; neither did he seduce me to enter into the effort.

But all this is past, and many thousand years have gone by since our fall, and we have suffered much because of our first sin. As you have been told, many thousands of years passed since the time that we forfeited the gift of immortality, until it was restored and made known to humanity by Jesus the son of God, for he was the son of God, and as being a part of his Father's Divine Nature, he was Divine, and partook of those qualities of the Father which gave to him immortality, and those who follow his teachings and receive the New Birth will become Divine and immortal also.

I must not write more tonight. Yes, I will, and now I will say goodnight.

Your sister,
Amon

Jesus Writes That the Ancient Spirits Were Allowed to Give Their Messages to Confirm the Truth of the New Birth

August 23, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

I am glad that you are feeling better tonight and I see that you will soon be in condition to take my messages again, and then I will be ready to write you more of my truths.

The messages that you have been getting from the spirits of those who have lived in the spirit world for a long time all go to confirm the truth of my writing to you and of the reality of the New Birth, and the necessity of men getting this New Birth in order to become immortal.

So I think that these messages will work a great confirmation of what I write and for that purpose you have been permitted to receive them and they to write to you. I thought, that considering the fact that men will be so loath to believe what I write through you, that it is wise that all these spirits should write.

I will not write more tonight, but will have you prepare to soon take another of my messages. I will rewrite the message that I last wrote you as it is not entirely satisfactory. Well, that is a subject upon which I will write you fully later, and I can only give you a satisfactory explanation of that question in a message that will require me to write longer than I can tonight. So, wait until then.

I will stop now and say that you will soon be in the condition that we both desire you to be in. I give you my blessings and love.

Your friend and brother,
Jesus

Jesus Writes That a Mere Belief in Him Will Not Save Men From Their Sins

August 15, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Jesus.

I was with you tonight at the meeting of the Christians and I saw that you were thinking of several things that I had written and wanted to tell the preacher of my truths but, of course, you could not. He took a bit from the Bible, which I am credited with having uttered and I did, but I did not mean exactly what he explained it to mean when I said, "He that liveth and believeth on me shall never die."

I meant that the man whose soul was not dead to sin and believed in the truths that I had disclosed, that is, that God's Divine Love was waiting to enter into and fill his soul with its essence and substance and that means by prayer and faith received that Divine Love - he should never die. That is, he would become immortal as God is immortal.

No mere belief in me as Jesus the man or as the son of God is sufficient to give a man eternal life for while he must believe that I was sent by God to proclaim the great truth that He had again bestowed on man, the possibility of obtaining this Divine Love by his prayers and faith, yet, unless he believed this and became the possessor of this Divine Love he could never claim eternal life.

I wish that the preachers would pay more attention to the truths which I taught, that is, those truths which showed men the Father's Love waiting to be bestowed and the way to obtain it, thanks to my personality.

I, Jesus as the son of man or of God, do not save any man from his sins and make him one with the Father, but the truths which I taught and which were taught me by the Father are the things that save.

I know that the preachers attempt to explain these things by the light of the Bible as they understand that light, but so often it is so obscured that instead of preaching from light they preached from darkness.

For these reasons among others, I am so anxious to declare to you my teachings of these truths that the world may know what truth is, and what the individual must do in order to attain eternal life or immortality. I will try with all my power to bring about this opportunity for your receiving my messages and believe that very soon I will succeed.

So believe in my love and my desire for your success.

Your brother in Christ,
Jesus

St. John Writes About the Difference Between the Natural Love and Divine Love

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

I am here, St. John.

I felt your call and came. I will tell you of love, as that is what you called me for.

The love that I taught when on earth is the Love that the Father has prepared for all His children who might seek it. All that is required is that they seek with earnestness and faith, and they will receive it. I know that this Love is frequently confounded with the natural love that God gave to man at his creation, but the two are different and distinct.

Every man has this natural love to a more or less extent; and it is a great gift and makes man what he is; but not so many have this other Love, because it is bestowed only in answer to prayer and the real longings of the heart and soul. This is the Divine Love, and this is the Love that makes man a part of the Divinity of the Father and, consequently, immortal.

God is Love - and this is the great truth of His being. But His Love, while free for all, yet, is not bestowed without the desire of the mortal to receive it.

I wish that I had time tonight to more fully explain this Great Love but I have not; and I came to you only because you called me. No, not tonight, but I will come sometime and write you a long letter on these subjects.

I am supremely happy and am working for humanity, and so directly does the Master. I do more for the advancement of the spirits after they have commenced to enjoy the Love of the Father in their souls.

Well, Jesus is the ruling spirit in our Kingdom and His power is supreme. It is, of course, the Kingdom of God; but this Kingdom is being formed by the Master, and to him is given the supreme ruling power, and we are all his followers. He rules by love and ministrations, and not by the hard lines of force and coercion. Yes, he has many with him in the Celestial Spheres, but they are all subordinate to and obey him, but it is hard to make you understand this. This obedience is the result of love, and the word does not convey the exact meaning intended.

Well, that was a request made by us in our desire to become of importance, but we did not then understand what His Kingdom would be. We are equal here provided we have the same amount of Love - the Divine Love, that alone determines our place and position.

Jesus is the greatest of all, because he has more of this Love than any other spirit, and because he is nearer the Father and knows more of Him and of His attributes. No distinction is made in this Kingdom because of any relationship or personal greatness, but only because of more or less of Divine Love in the soul of the spirit.

I will come to you at times and write you of my knowledge of the truths of the Father and hope that they may do you and the world some good.

I was not an educated man at that time when on earth and never was, so far as languages are concerned. I had no knowledge of the philosophy of the great thinkers and writers of that time. All the knowledge I possessed of spiritual matters came to me from the teachings of Jesus and the promptings of the Holy Spirit. I was not a learned man in the earthly sense.

You have my blessings and my love, and I hope that the Holy Spirit may soon fill your soul with the Love of the Father in greater abundance and keep you in its care and keeping.

I will say goodnight.
St. John